Social networks have firmly entered the lives of Internet users. Many have no idea how they lived before their appearance. And now they devote all their free time to communicating with virtual friends. Therefore, startups and developers are trying to create new ones, become leaders on the network and even overtake Facebook. New projects appear every year, both for mothers and housewives, as well as for lovers of literature and music. To date, there are six interesting social networks that deserve your attention.
And although it seems that existing social networks will always be popular, in fact, they lie. For example, the social network Instagram was created not so long ago and in a short time it gathered a huge audience. By the way, instead of Instagram, you can use an interesting online service. Around popular sites, a large number of interesting online services are gradually being created.
The new #1 social network is Bookish.
In a social network, you can discuss your favorite literary works and buy books. The network was created with the support of major publishers - Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and Penguin Group. The main goal of the project is to unite the author of the book and the reader. On the social network, you can read excerpts from books, interviews with authors of works, as well as user reviews. If a user is interested in some book, then he can purchase it, just follow the link to local stores or Amazon. The network interface is very convenient, which allows you to find the author you like by any means. But Bookish will only be useful for English-speaking users and "reading enthusiasts".
The network database consists of two million books, as well as four hundred thousand pages with information about the authors.
New social network No. 2 - Fancy.
While this social network is popular in the US, few people know about it in other countries. However, this service is growing rapidly. And this is expected, since the creators of and worked on it. Users are encouraged to search the web for unique things, collect them in a certain place, and also make purchases. Thus, the Fancy network is both a blog and an online store, and a community of like-minded people who follow fashion, buy designer items and jewelry, and also collect pictures of exotic countries. The user can not only exchange images, but also buy those things that are fixed on them. There are not so many visitors yet, only about 250 thousand registered users. However, the popularity of the network is growing, as the team has developed not only a web interface, but also mobile applications for iOS and .
New social network #3 - Icebergs.
So far, the service is only getting ready for launch, so if you want to become a member of the network, leave a request for testing. But, it is not yet known when the project will start.
New social network No. 4 - Medium.
Twitter developers have decided to open a new social network. It was created so that each user can evaluate their information contribution. That is, you offer the network content, such as photos, and Medium collects similar data from other users. Anyone can add information or view it. The network issues messages by rating, and not in the traditional chronological order. The content is divided into collections, each with templates and themes for uploading content. Authorization occurs through Twitter. Therefore, any microblogging user can place a post in a thematic collection.
New social network No. 5 - Vine.
So far, this service does not look like a full-fledged social network, but it may soon become one. At the moment, this is an application for mobile devices with which you can create short six-second videos. This service was acquired by Twitter in October last year, but it started only in January 2013. About 100 thousand users use the service. But it also appealed to corporate clients. Popular brands are starting to look at the new service.
New social network No. 6 - Zeen.
Video.
Interesting video about new social media.
With the spread of the Internet, there are more and more questions from various users that affect social networks - what is it and how do they differ from other sites. The most correct answer to them would be to define such networks as platforms for building between people who share certain interests, activities, or have real connections outside the Internet. As a rule, the functionality of a social network is to provide each user with his personal profile, the ability to create links with other accounts, as well as a number of additional services.
Thus, social networks on the Internet are sites that provide services that allow people to create a public profile, add a list of users with whom they can share various information and keep in touch. Most of these resources have a means of user interaction through, for example, instant messaging.
Social networks - what is it today?
These sites are now diversified and include new information and communication tools such as photo/video sharing and blogging. In addition, on the basis of many social networks there are so-called Internet communities that unite people according to narrower interests and preferences. Regardless of the original purpose, social networks allow users to exchange ideas, photos, messages, activities, events, connect with different people of interest, and so on.
What is their main difference?
Basically, these services unite people according to various classifying criteria - former schools, universities, places of work, hobbies, and so on. Each country has the most popular social network, the formations in which (groups, publics, communities) are unique in accordance with local traditions. In addition, some services have spread around the world and have become popular among users in most countries (including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).
History of social networks
To fully answer the question "social networks - what is it?", you need to familiarize yourself with the history of their appearance. Initially, to ensure communication between network users, such services as Usenet, ARPANET, mailing lists and bulletin boards were introduced. Many prototype social networking features have been present in online services such as America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe, ChatNet, and a few others.
More modern-day services began to appear on the World Wide Web as generic online communities like Theglobe.com (in 1995), Geocities (1994), and Tripod.com (1995). Many of these early resources focused on bringing people together and communicating through chats, and encouraged users to share information and ideas through personal pages, providing easy-to-use publishing tools and free or low-cost hosting. Subsequently, social networks appeared on the Internet, taking a different approach, connecting people through email and messaging. The first such service in the world was Classmates.com.
Most up-to-date services
In the late 1990s, user profiles became the centerpiece of social media, allowing users to build "friend" lists and search for other users with similar interests. New operating principles for these services were developed in the late 1990s, and sites began to try to promote a better user experience. This new generation of social media flourished with the advent of SixDegrees.com in 1997, followed by Makeoutclub (2000) and Friendster (2002), and soon became part of the Internet mainstream. Friendster was followed by MySpace and LinkedIn (a social network for workers). Facebook was launched in 2004. It soon became the largest social network in the world.
What services are the most popular today?
Facebook is a social networking site headquartered in the US, in Menlo Park, California. As mentioned above, this website was launched in 2004 along with its college dorm roommates. The founders initially limited the site's visitors to only Harvard students, but later made it available to many other students. Since 2006, this project has become available to everyone who has reached the age of 13.
After registering on the site, users can create a profile, add other users as friends, exchange messages, make status updates, add photos, share videos, and receive notifications from friends. In addition, users can join interest groups and categorize their friends in lists, such as "People from work" or "Close friends". Facebook has over 1.44 billion active users as of March 2015.
Blogs and business website
Twitter is an online service that allows users to send and read short 140-character messages called tweets. Registered users can read and write tweets, unregistered users can only read. Users access Twitter through a website interface, SMS, or mobile device app. Office of Twitter Inc. based in San Francisco and has over 25 branches worldwide. In May 2015, Twitter had over 500 million users, of which over 302 million are active.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented service. In other words, employees and employers. Founded in December 2002 and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional communication. In 2006, LinkedIn was expanded to 20 million members. As of June 2013, LinkedIn reported over 259 million users in over 200 countries.
The most famous social networks in Russia
VK (originally VKontakte) is Russia's largest social network. It is available in several languages, but is especially popular among Russian-speaking users, in particular, in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Like other similar social and entertainment networks, VKontakte allows users to send messages to each other publicly or privately, create groups, pages and events, share images, audio and video, and play browser-based games. As of November 2014, the service had 280 million accounts.
Odnoklassniki (or OK.ru) is a site for finding former classmates and old friends. It is popular in Russia and other former Soviet republics. The site currently claims to have over 200 million registered users and 45 million daily unique visitors. This resource has been around for eight years.
Livejournal
Forecast and development
This article gave a detailed answer to the following question: "Social networks - what is it?". Currently, there are new and new resources similar to those listed above, but every year it is becoming more and more difficult for them to withstand competition and become leaders.
The most popular social networks in Russia: 2018
The social network is available in 90 languages or more, is highly popular among the Russian-speaking audience, and is the largest in all of Europe. The headquarters is located in St. Petersburg. VKontakte allows you to send messages and images, share video and audio recordings, tags, create your own groups and communities, and relax with browser games. The social network strives to remain the fastest and most modern way to communicate on the Internet. It is the most popular social network in Russia (2018).
This domestic social network belongs to Mail.Ru Group and was established in March 2006. In terms of popularity this year, it ranks 3rd in Armenia, 4th in Azerbaijan and Russia, 5th in Kazakhstan, 7th in Ukraine, 27th in the world.
According to a December 2017 survey, 19% of the domestic audience use the Odnoklassniki website almost every day or every day.
A free social network that allows you to share photos and videos. It contains elements of a social network. Instagram allows you to take photos and videos, use filters, share them through your account or other social networks. At the moment, both from the point of view of the user, and in terms of promoting their services and products
A popular video hosting in the world that hosts a lot of videos. A unique social network in which everyone can find both and make it their main one.
This is the most famous social network in the world, which appeared on February 4, 2004. It was created by Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates while studying at Harvard University. The first name is Thefacebook, only university students had access to it. After that, students from Boston universities got access, then students from all American universities with an .edu email address. Since the fall of 2006, anyone can register on Facebook.
The emphasis in this social network is on personalization and ease of use. Content is divided into several categories - video and audio, chat, link, quote, photo and text. People subscribe to blogs that are interesting to them, the entries of which appear in the news feed. They also tag the posts they liked using the corresponding button and reblog to their page to comment on them.
There is support for automatic export of messages to Facebook and Twitter, using the RSS protocol.
Social photo hosting, whose users upload images to their respective collections, share photos with other people. The added images are called "buttons" and the collections are called "boards".
Other most popular social networks in Russia
A popular portal where users create their own electronic diaries and communicate with each other. There are also counters for sites.
Russian-language social site, which is a collective blog. There are elements of a news site. Habrahabr is intended for publishing analytical articles and news. Topic - Internet, business, modern information technologies. A few years ago, a number of topics were separated into separate resources.
A popular platform where users create their blogs, communicate with people. Popular social networks in Russia include it in their list.
The largest music catalog that creates individual and general charts for each user.
Not the most popular social networks and portals
This social network is designed for users to communicate with each other. With its help, you can find friends by interests and similar entertainment, create an individual design of a personal page, start a diary, become a member of communities or create your own by interests, communicate on blogs, share videos, audio and images. About 300,000 users blog on Privet.ru.
This is a popular web service designed for blogging and communication with like-minded people.
Social service of Russian information channels, which was launched in the spring of 1998. Designed for organizing and maintaining electronic mailing lists.
Specialized social networks
A business social network that brings together entrepreneurs and specialists on certain grounds (geography, profession, industry). It appeared in the summer of 2008, and today it has about 7 million registered users. The social network is designed to discuss professional problems, search for partners and investors, self-educate and get new ideas. More than 2 million people participate in the largest communities of the network.
Today, people communicate more and more in the virtual space. The Internet and mobile devices allow you to do this almost anywhere. The most popular social networks play the role of a kind of bridge between vast distances and at the same time a small state, each of which has its own rules.
Today people are more and more connected in social networks.
In itself, the concept of a social network has already become quite vague, since many of those virtual sites that are called by this name are instant messengers, video streamers, video hosting, photo hosting. Nevertheless, all these communities are recognized as social networks.
List of the most popular Russian social networks. networks differs from the similar global one. Mainly on the first two lines:
- In contact with
- Skype
- Google +
- Viber
- facebook messenger
This is the list we have for 2016.
VK.com
VK has traditionally been the leader among all other social networks in Russia and many CIS countries for many years. In October last year, the contact turned ten years old, and it remains a virtual monopoly in the field of online communication between Russians. The average daily audience is about 64 million visitors.
Every year, both the mobile application and the web version get new features that are present in other social networks. One of these was the emergence of "Stories", with the help of which you can tell your friends and subscribers about your life on video or photos. In addition, money transfers and well-known voice messages appeared.
OK.ru is the fifth most popular Russian site. Odnoklassniki all the time step on the heels of Contact: 51 million users per day - but nevertheless they can never catch up with him.
This year in social networks appeared broadcasts from groups, money transfers, the OK Video application. Odnoklassniki also try to provide users with the maximum number of communication opportunities. It is worth noting that both sites: both VK and Odnoklassniki belong to the Mail.Ru Group.
Facebook was in third place largely due to the existence of the Russian counterpart - VKontakte. Since it is more convenient for us to use the brainchild of Pavel Durov, and many have many more friends there, 6 million Russians visit Facebook every day.
Skype
Skype cannot be called a full-fledged social network. network, as it is still deprived of many of the functions inherent in the same VK. The main feature of Skype has been and will be video calls. Yes, there are chats and the ability to add personal information, but most people use Skype for video or audio calls.
Despite the emergence of programs such as Viber, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Skype does not lose its popularity. Perhaps because many are not yet sufficiently accustomed to new substitutes for the old reliable program.
Google +
Google+ is Google's failed attempt to create its own social media. net. Unfortunate because the popularity of Google + is declining every year. When users there will not remain at all - a matter of time.
The most interesting thing is that Google + takes the fifth place in our country. In other countries, it is already, in general, practically not listed due to low popularity.
A popular application is taking over the world with rapid steps. Today, WhatsApp is used by hundreds of millions of people around the world: the monthly audience is 1 billion. It is also quite popular among Russian users.
Viber
An analogue of WhatsApp with similar functionality. However, it is more often used to make calls than to exchange messages.
Viber is already starting to lose ground after the appearance of such popular means of communication or social. networks like whatsapp.
Instagram is in eighth place, but in the world it is constantly in the lead and is in the top five. This is a network that is used by a large number of young people. It became finally considered social after Direct appeared on Instagram - a chat with users.
Instagram is gradually starting to outpace Twitter. At Insta everything is built on the exchange of photos, on Twitter - on short messages.
Twitter has gained a foothold in the post-Soviet space, but is beginning to lose popularity to Instagram, which is constantly gaining new users. The monthly audience is 7.7 million people.
On Twitter, the main feature is the little notes about their lives that users share with each other. Naturally, the creators did not stop there and added many more different features: chat, the ability to post videos and photos, likes and reposts - making Twitter a full-fledged social network. network.
facebook messenger
Facebook messenger cannot be considered as a separate social network either. This is an application that allows you to chat with your friends.
However, despite this, Facebook Messenger was in the top ten most popular networks. The messenger has an arsenal of features similar to Viber and WhatsApp.
How are things abroad?
- facebook messenger
- QZONE
YouTube is also well known to the Russian user, but in the world it is ranked second, and as one of the most popular social networks. networks. Billions of videos are watched daily on the site, and the number of accounts is 1.3 billion.
Well, perhaps in a few years YouTube will become as popular with us. The service currently mainly acts as a server for a huge number of videos, allowing users to create their own channels, comment on each other, put “likes” or “dislikes”.
Tumblr appeared in Russia relatively recently and is just beginning to gain its popularity. While in the rest of the world it is already in the top ten. Its monthly audience is 555 million people.
This network is used mainly by young people. In it, you can share various multimedia content. At the same time, developers are trying to monitor its uniqueness.
QQ and QZONE services are known primarily in Asia. This is a messenger and a social network, respectively. It is unlikely that you will find your friends there by going to them.
So, as you can see, in 2016 the lists of the most popular networks partly overlap. And even if they do not merge at all, it is clear that everywhere people follow the path of instant messengers and specialized applications in order to discard the excess. Although the tops are still occupied by traditional social networks.
A couple of decades ago, the concept of a social network had a completely different meaning than it does now, and a wired telephone looked like a technical revolution against the background of paper letters, telegrams and postcards. Now everything is different. Today, the difference between modern forty-year-old parents and sixty-year-old grandparents on the one hand, and their children and grandchildren on the other, is greater than between early Europeans and their ancestors three centuries later. Literally every year brings technical innovations that make humanity change and go through life even faster. The wide and constant growth of their influence is evidence of this.
Modern social networks
Not so long ago, mankind got acquainted with social networks on the Internet. Technically, this is an interactive website that allows a large number of users to use it. Such a site exists to create, reproduce and combine social interactions on the World Wide Web. Users include both individuals and communities connected by common hobbies, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, large organizations. These groups also include thematic forums, especially specialized ones, which have been developing rapidly in recent years.
Usually, the site space makes it possible to indicate data about yourself (year of birth, general and higher educational institutions, favorite activities, etc.), by which the author's account can be found by other participants. Social networks are divided into open and closed. One of the typical features of such services is the system of "friends" and "groups".
Massive development of new Internet directions began in the mid-90s, when popular social projects appeared, first abroad, and then in Russia. But the beginning of the 21st century is considered to be the official beginning of this rise, when several social services that are popular today appeared at once.
Now the latest social networks are very popular among modern users. The only problem is how to find a platform according to your interests, to choose a really interesting place for virtual communication. Sometimes the Internet makes it possible to replace a live dialogue with an electronic one.
microblogging service
Twitter is a new generation social network that quickly became famous. It is a slightly unusual "social network", which makes it possible to send short text notifications and photographs. All data on the user's page is open for viewing by others.
- The speed of information exchange between subscribers is much faster than in other social networks.
- All published data is available to users who have their own Twitter account.
- You can write a so-called “tweet” in just one click. Such speed is welcomed by users. It doesn't take long to type posts.
- Being a member of this network is fashionable these days. Therefore, many work with it, even when there is no real need.
To work with a social network, the user must first go through the registration process. It's happening fast. All you have to do is enter your phone number, email address, desired nickname and password. Then you can start posting. It is allowed to supplement the text with pictures and photos, videos and polls, links, hashtags and so on.
Icebergs - social network type organizer
Icebergs is a popular social network created in recent years. The site was developed by A. Prett. He chose the simplest way - he just put together the possibilities of the Internet, which are used by many people today. Thus, a new social network called Icebergs was born.
Here you can read books, post, play, create groups, chat or just watch videos and type messages. In fact, Icebergs is a huge organizer of all images, notes, texts and other user materials. But the author went further than one could imagine - he brought everything together, combining it with the interface of a social network.
Bookish - a community for book lovers and writers
Other newer social networks, such as Bookish.com, can become very useful and necessary. The site is focused specifically on working with books. Here you can not only exchange opinions about different works or communicate with other book lovers, but also read and purchase goods. There is also a news feed where interviews with writers and publishers are published. Therefore, for a writer or poet, such a social network will also be interesting from a professional point of view. In it, the authors will be able to work on the promotion of their works.
In addition, Bookish will introduce you to new authors and works from many genres. True, today there are not so many registered users on this service. But the number of active pages is growing rapidly. There are especially many creative people in the social network.
Hey - analogue of Facebook
Hey.Im has become another social network of modern times. The network is designed to search for like-minded people by interests. In Russia, the service is not yet very popular, Hey.Im often replaces Facebook. The latter makes it possible to find a friend at his address, as well as look at his profile, which shows interests, favorite films, music, and so on.
Experts say that Hey.Im will still become popular. The service is focused on finding friends and communication. The design is minimalist, many features that are usually found in social networks are missing here.
Ask fm - question and answer service
The social network ASK.fm is not quite a standard social network. This is a Q&A network that started seven years ago. The site was developed in Latvia. After registration, the participant uploads his profile. You can use either your real name or a pseudonym. In the social network, you can ask questions to other users and answer those that were asked to you. ASK.fm is connected to other social networks that have contributed to the rapid spread of this site.
The service has become a very well-known newest social network in our country and in a number of other states. The number of users has reached several tens of millions of people in a relatively short period of time. The popularity of the site is due to its focus, ease of management and the ability to easily find the information you need.
Family leaf - communication service for parents
The newest social network is aimed at users who are looking for an opportunity to get information and talk about family values or parenting. In principle, we can consider the site specialized, pedagogical orientation. In this regard, the family leaf occupies an important direction, always of interest. Therefore, the growth of the popularity of the social network in the near future is inevitable.
In Russia, this newest social network is not yet very well known, there are very few Russian-language pages, those who are interested can be sent for registration only to English-language counterparts. Although positive changes in the development of the social network are obvious. It can be seen that these topics are not alien to Russians. Many parents are interested in learning about methods of raising children and teenagers abroad. They will be happy to share their experiences.
Pinterest image sharing social network
Not all social networks are focused only on personal pages. For example, Pinterest is a social network with specialized content. Pinterest (in the Russian version "Pinterest") is a site often positioned as a social network where users have the opportunity to post photos. The resource is designed in the form of a "cork board", on which it is possible to create sets of images, divide them by topic. Users can explore the boards of other users, as well as work with a virtual button to post pictures. You can like boards or individual pictures posted by other users.
The great functional features of the site are revealed to the authors working in this newest social network Pinterest. The interface allows you to publish photos, save them, sort, manage video files. The main tool is pointed buttons (pins), with which images can be attached to an electronic board. The latter are usually subdivided into different themes.
Fancy - social network for collectors
Another newest social network is Fancy. Its additional function is a forum for collectors. Here you can chat with friends, post images of your collections, and also purchase something. You can simply search for information of interest with a simple search system and a large number of filters. Fancy is a business website, a blog, a social network, and a photo album. But at present, outside the United States, this network is not popular.
Other modern social networks
The latest social networks are quite diverse and are not limited to those discussed above. More and more interesting resources are constantly emerging. For example, Thumb. This social network has an important feature. The main purpose of the service is to transmit reactions to the decisions of your friends. Therefore, Thumb is such a tool that can help discuss with other users the solution to some problems.
This network function is liked by users both in Western countries and in our country. Thumb is a great solution for people who like to comment and rate events.
Popular social networks in Russia
In our country, services are a little behind, but some development is also visible. For example, in addition to those already noted above, a new social network FactCloud has appeared. In fact, this is a domestic analogue of the foreign Thumb. On the site, you can communicate, as well as support friends, make decisions with them and find out the results of their actions.
Social Internet sites appear very quickly and in large numbers, providing the individual's need for communication and socialization. The creators of web resources do not want to repeat themselves, and this does not make sense - no one wants to switch to analogue services, users will remain faithful to familiar social networks. Therefore, developers are constantly looking for something new: new features, new features and new design. And not just new, but radically different. This is the only way to get users interested.
Undoubtedly, we should not forget about the list of social networks that have been popular for a long time. These are familiar to everyone Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte, Facebook. Numerous groups of users regularly communicate here. Of course, these sites do not have as many features that exist in the latest social networks, but, nevertheless, contact using these services is simple and convenient.
