Social networking services, also called
social networking sites (SNS), are
designed to provide the Web-based tools to let people build upon interactions to create online communities.
Web-based social networking spaces offer a way for individuals or groups to
create a profile of themselves, then share that profile with other members of
the social networking space. The specific site will provide a variety of ways
for users to communicate with others in the space, including instant messaging,
chat rooms, e-mail or site mail, blogs, file sharing, videos, discussion
groups, and so on.Two popular social
networking sites are LinkedIn
and Facebook. While both are
designed to connect people online, the two sites represent different types of
connections with very different options and features.
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Key Terms To
Understanding Social Networking Sites
Related Articles
on Webopedia:
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What Is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a professional, business-oriented social networking site.
Here, users can create a profile that is akin to a
resume. Your LinkedIn profile summarizes your current and previous
professional experience, your company and its industry and affiliates, your
educational background, and any Web sites you own or are affiliated with. By
providing this type of professional information, you can then connect with
colleagues, clients and partners. On the LinkedIn site you create a network
that consists of "connections". Connections on LinkedIn are the people you
know, and connections expand to include the people they know and have
connected with on LinkedIn. Some of the tools and features of LinkedIn
include the following:
- Recommendations: You can
recommend colleagues, business partners or service providers and share
your recommendations on your profile. When others view those profiles
they can read the recommendations.
- Contacts: You can search and add
contacts individually or simply import your Outlook or Web mail contacts
from Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail or AOL to search for
contacts on LinkedIn.
- LinkedIn Search: You can search
for people by name, by company or by industry.
- LinkedIn Jobs: A job search,
powered by Simply Hired enables you to search for jobs. Here, your LinkedIn
connections, your profile updates, plus any recommendations can help you
when making contact with a person who has listed a job posting you're
interested in.
- LinkedIn Answers: Here you can
ask a question and get answers from your connections and experts within
your network. You can also view questions and answers posted by others.
- LinkedIn Service Providers: A
directory of service providers with recommendations from clients. The
most recent LinkedIn recommendations are listed here also.
What Is Facebook?
The Facebook social networking site is used to connect with a variety of
people — your friends, family and those you work with, go to school with,
or people you used to be friends or classmates with. In a general sense,
where LinkedIn is designed to connect professionals, Facebook is designed to
just connect people. When you join Facebook and create a profile, you will
enter in key information which can help other people find you on Facebook.
This includes; Basic information like name, birthday, hometown, political
and religious views. In your profile you can also include contact
information, your relationship details (married, single, and so on), and
personal details such as your favorite teams, shows, movies, and books.
Facebook also provides options for users to include education and work
details.
When people search on Facebook they can, for
example, search just by "hometown" or by employer to help them find people
they know or to meet people with similar interests. When you add a
connection on Facebook, it is called a friend. As you add friends you can
also select a connection type that describes how you know or met this
person.
Some of the tools and features of Facebook
include the following;
- Networks: When you join Facebook you can
join a regional network to connect with people in your own area. Other
types of networks you can join are based on a company or school.
- Facebook Applications:
Applications on Facebook are small programs that users can install to their
profile. These can be anything from blog interfaces to games, instant
messaging, shopping lists and more. Other can often see notes about your
applications and what you are doing in it on your profile. Also, your
profile will also include boxes which contain the application.
- Facebook Photos: Facebook users can
create online photo albums which can be viewed from their profile.
- Facebook Video: Users can upload and tag
videos to share on their Facebook profile.
User Profile - LinkedIn |
User Profile -
Facebook |
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Screenshots showing how a user's
profile might look on each social networking site.
Click to view larger images. |
The Main Difference Between Facebook and
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is designed more for business and professional networking and
offers a profile and options to network in a business sense. Facebook, on
the other hand is designed more to connect family and friends. When you want
to know where an old colleague is working now, you use LinkedIn. When you
want to find out if that same colleague is married and if they have kids,
you use Facebook.
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DID YOU KNOW...
LinkedIn Was...
Facebook
Was...
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Launched
in February 2004
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Founder:
Mark Zuckerberg
-
Has 70
million active users representing over 55,000 regional,
work-related, collegiate, and high school networks
(from the Facebook Web site)
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By Vangie Beal
Writer, www.Webopedia.com
Last updated: May 16, 2008
Social
Networking Sites
One of the first social networking Web sites, launched in 1997, was
SixDegrees.com. This site started the trend of enabling users to create personal
profiles and make lists of their friends. Two years after the fall of SixDegrees,
LiveJournal offered authors options to add a list of friends to their profile
page.
Facebook
Facebook is a social utility that connects you
with the people around you. Everyone can use Facebook.
LinkedIn
Share knowledge and tap into relationships by connecting the people in your
professional network with LinkedIn.
internetnews.com: More Drama For Facebook
Facebook on Wednesday answered charges that its Beacon ad program violates
users' privacy.
internetnews.com: Microsoft Buys Facebook Stake
What does $240 million buy these days? For Microsoft, a tiny 1.6 percent
stake in social networking phenomenon Facebook . oh, and an exclusive worldwide
advertising deal.
internetnews.com: LinkedIn Gets Web 2.0 Makeover
LinkedIn seeks outside partnerships with established players in the business
community to broaden its reach and relevance.
internetnews.com: LinkedIn to Offer New Free Services
Social networking site nears profitability as number of users hits 5 million. |
