In the digital world a social network is an online community of people who are brought together usually because they have some form of common interest, activity or characteristic. Whilst the precise features and benefits of each social network vary, they all tend to offer users the ability to:
- Define a profile for themselves which may include adding a user name, image and contact details.
- Search for other community members with whom to interact.
- Communicate with other community members either en masse or one to one.
- Share various types of content such as photos, videos or text.
Some social networks (e.g. MySpace) exist entirely in cyberspace while others (e.g. online football fan sites) also operate in the real world. There are numerous online social networks serving many different types of community including:
- Youth oriented networks (e.g. Bebo, MySpace)
- Life event networks (e.g. MumsNet, Disaboom)
- Ethnic networks (e.g. BlackPlanet, NetNoir)
- Dating networks (e.g. Fubar, Flirtomatic)
- Business networks (e.g. LinkedIn, Ecadamy)
- Professional networks (e.g. SciSpace, Sermo)
- Content sharing networks (e.g. Flickr, YouTube)
- Finance networks (e.g. Marketocracy, MotleyFool)
- Travel network (e.g. WAYN, Couch Surfing)
If you would like to know more about how Social Networks, please feel free to contact us.
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