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The 10 Best Social Media Portals in the USA


Social Media Portal
Description
1 Facebook For the longest time, Facebook has been the most used social networking website around the world. It continues to grow every day and averages over 2 Billion active each month. With an unending list of features, it connects people in every possible manner. The network is available on all platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) and devices (Android, Windows, iOS, etc.).

Users can post their status, photos, videos, check-in to places, create polls and ask questions in their news feed. Several stickers, GIFs, and emoticons are available, which make the experience more interactive along with regular updates. People can offer comments and share the posts. Facebook also gives access to Messenger, which allows you to send messages to all Facebook users instantly, and its mobile application can be used to make audio and video calls too.

You can create groups or pages related to a specific interest and build micro-communities for engaging people in discussions. This social media platform becomes all the more relevant in case you are a business, as it can be used for targeted promotions and increasing your outreach, considering the number of people accessing it. Facebook has an elaborate privacy policy and allows users a great deal of flexibility when it comes to people who can view their personal content. The network is widely being used for disseminating news in the present times and shows what topics are currently trending. Users can also play online games and post their daily stories.

More information: Facebook.com
2 YouTube Owned by Google, YouTube is essentially a video sharing social media website that was launched in 2005. It allows users to upload videos to a viewership of approximately 1 Billion monthly active users. People can search and view videos, like, dislike, engage in discussions via comments, create playlists, share and download the videos via the platform. They can subscribe to a “channel” which may provide customized updates about uploaded videos.

From the perspective of a video creator, YouTube provides a host of editing options such as filters, tags, etc. and gives interactive statistics on the audience of videos. This includes countries where the video is being watched in, the age and gender of your viewership, platforms on which video is being watched (mobile, desktop, etc.), among many others.

Every minute around 300 hours of video content is uploaded on YouTube. News, entertainment, gaming, education, the website is full of content. From salt to software, food to fighter jets; you name it, YouTube has it. There are topics which have curated content depending on regional popularity and other parameters. YouTube also has a strict privacy policy and has community checks, where people can report copyrighted or offensive content. Videos can be streamed live and people can comment side by side. Their platform is regularly updated with services like buying movies, albums, etc.

More information: Youtube.com
3 Twitter Twitter is a social networking service based primarily for news and information purposes rather than direct personal conversations (available on platforms such as Facebook). If you like keeping yourself aware of current events around the world, be it of politics, sports, entertainment, technology or any other subject, Twitter may be the right choice for you. The users can communicate in maximum 280 characters per “tweet”. This catch makes sure that you get only the most relevant information, which can also be accompanied with some multimedia files.

You can choose persons or pages that you would like to follow any and get updates about their tweets. The platform also features a location service by which you can send your real-time location enabling you to meet people.

By adding “@” before the username of a person you can send messages directly to them. Also there are chances that if you tweet celebrities like Madonna or Elon Musk, you might get personal replies for them too! Twitter is also helpful in cases where regular updates in few minutes are needed. Hence it can be seen that during sporting event or natural disasters, Twitter proves to be an efficient tool.

More information: Twitter.com
4 Instagram Instagram is a social networking service on which people can primarily share photos and videos. It is available across platforms and is mostly operated using mobile devices. It has a user-friendly interface which allows quick uploading of multimedia in the form of posts, stories or live streams.

The mobile application allows users to edit their photos with several cool filters and other tweaks to make their pictures look awesome. People can like a photo by double tapping on it, which shows a heart on the post. Furthermore, they can comment on each post and send them to other users via private messages too. In their stories, one can create polls, ask people for opinions, etc.

Instagram is an excellent platform for anyone wanting to explore oneself and share different aspects of their lifestyles.

Considering the huge number of celebrities on Instagram, you could create a profile to keep in touch with the different events happening around the world. The application suggests people to follow depending on your activity and Facebook friends. One can choose whether to have a private account or to share their multimedia publically. The application is also beneficial for businesses. Anyone can freely create a business account where promotions can be done can be linked directly to a website.

More information: Instagram.com
5 LinkedIn LinkedIn is a professional networking service owned by Microsoft. The service has around 500 million users and is meant for providing business and employment-specific solutions. Companies and industry professionals can create their accounts and hire the best of talent suited to their needs.

You can add people with all kinds of skills to your list of connections. LinkedIn will then show people who are common to your circles or mutual circles, either as suggestions or when you specifically search for someone. You can utilize your connections to enlarge your professional network and consequently help your business.

The platform has a flexible interface which allows posting of multimedia content as well. The search option is highly efficient which can look up for jobs based on the field of work, geographical region, etc. It can also be used to find the right candidate for a job based on his work experience, proficiency skills, educational background, etc.

LinkedIn offers different plans for premium serviced accounts which are tailored to the specific needs of the person. You can find who views your profiles, their source of knowledge about you, send “InMail” messages, and compare yourself with other job-seekers and features of like nature. The community regularly posts useful information like latest events in the industry, their analysis, personality development and interview tips, etc.

More information: Linkedin.com
6 Reddit Reddit is a social media platform that aggregates online news into a single portal. It compiles news relating to diverse fields such as political, sports, funny, pictures, entertainment, technology, social media, etc.

Several communities are formed on the basis of their interest in these topics, wherein users can also post their own stories and multimedia. Users can then rate the content by “upvoting” or “downvoting” and engage in discussions. This allows the community to decide which story is “newsworthy” and increases the popularity of quality content.

A new account can be created within seconds after which one needs to select subreddits. These essentially are feeds for individual topics depending on what to follow. Some of the popular subreddits would be arranged on the topmost bar of the website. Below it, Reddit also arranges topics based on their time of upload, controversial nature, trends, etc. On the right-hand side, there is a search box, wherein you can search for additional reddits and subscribe them for updates.

There are moderators for every subreddit who manage the feed according to rules of Reddit, known as “Reddiquette”. Showing good reddiquette would earn you “Karma” which can act as credibility for your profile. There are some additional features like Multireddit where you can get information from different subreddits on similar topics in one place.

Reddit Gold is another paid feature by which your account can be made ad-free and you would be provided with some options to customize your account.

More information: Reddit.com
7 Tumblr Tumblr is a social media portal which is meant for micro-blogging. Users can create their own blogs relating to a particular theme or a topic and put personalized content on it for other people to follow. Multimedia content such as photos, videos, music, GIFs can be shared on the platform. Another exciting feature is live streaming of videos.

Tumblr has an easy-to-use interface, where you can edit and save your content, which can be posted later at your convenience. Layout, colors, themes, etc. are completely customizable with a large selection to choose from.

By reblogging and making use of “#tags”, your content can be shared among a large audience. However, if privacy is your concern then you can choose to limit your viewership. If you are a company or any other business, Tumblr can help you with advertising too. You can link your websites and other web pages, creating awareness and promoting your business.

There is an “Ask Me Anything” feature too, using which people can anonymously post questions and engage in discussions. The community on Tumblr is very diverse and vibrant, making exploring it an endless fun. Some additional features such as mobile platform and integration with Instagram further add to the pros of this website.

More information: Tumblr.com
8 Pinterest Pinterest is a social website that has gained plenty of popularity over the years. It is very helpful in saving online content such as recipes that you might want to save for later, web pages detailing out an itinerary of a trip you might want to take, a blog on how to trim plants in your backyard or literally anything that appeals you online. The website also has mobile applications by which you can refer to your saved content anytime, anywhere.

On Pinterest you can create a new account either by signing up or by integrating it with your other social media accounts such as Twitter or Facebook. On completing the setup, one can go ahead with “pinning” photos or videos that you like, which essentially is visually bookmarking all the nice stuff that you find online. Subsequently, one can revisit these bookmarks later point in time. These pins are connected to their source websites which you can access for detailed information on your topic of interest.

While setting up your account, Pinterest seeks information on themes that interest you and presents content on your feed on its basis. You can also follow other people and their pins.

More information: In.Pinterest.com
9 Google Plus Google Plus is a social network that was launched in the year 2011, primarily for the Google users. In a very less time, Google+ became one of the most used social networks on the internet, providing a host of features and customizations to its users.

Google+ allows friends or contacts to be added to different “circles”, allowing you the flexibility and saving your time whenever you need to share posts with specific people or groups. These circles are private and no other person can see your contacts, names of the circles, etc.

Google+ is integrated with other Google services such as Picassa (now Google Photos), which allows you to save and share your photos, or Google Hangouts using which you can video chat. The service also comes with a cross platform mobile application.

Google Plus’ home page consists of a feed containing “stream” of content shared by your contacts. You can further share or comment on these content. On the Discovery page you would find posts, articles, news pieces, etc. from different websites. The search box allows one to explore posts shared on Google+ from diverse topics. You can also join communities or start your own community to dig deeper in areas of your interest. Notifications can be personalized for all your contacts or communities that you follow.

More information: Plus.Google.com
10 Ask.fm Ask.fm is a social “Question and Answer” website. It was initiated as a platform where people could post any questions anonymously. It allows people to create their profiles which can be browsed by other users on the website. One can follow other users and get updated with their answer threads. Questions can be answered via text or in form of videos.

The website has a simple user interface, and one can answer any question asked on one’s own feed or someone else’s wall feed. A profile can be integrated to other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allowing it to show answers on those websites as well.

Ask.fm is a first of its kind website which has a cryptocurrency and awards certain amount to people who regularly post good “quality content”. People can make use of interactive stickers and premium moods (watching an ad until the end would get you one).

Another feature is Shoutout by which questions can be asked to users who are available in the nearby areas allowing for a more region-specific answer. This can be helpful for questions asking places to visit or popular restaurants in an area. Users can also scroll leisurely through the interesting questions and famous people’s answers using the Discover feature.

More information: Ask.fm



social media



In this era of the globalized world, communication and connecting with multiple people has become a very important need for every individual. Our society took a giant step in this direction when the internet came along. The technological advancements over a period of time increased the availability of internet among the masses even more, amplifying the need and capability to connect with people. This paved the way forward for social media websites.

Today, billions of people around the world use social media sites to connect with their friends, family or for work. Millions of people have made social media a part of their daily lifestyle. As the internet spread among the diverse population around the world, so did the social media. Currently we have social media platforms of various kinds. Some of the top social media websites are available in all corners of the world, some are restricted to a particular geographical region, and some social media sites are limited on the basis of language, and so on.

Also, different social media websites provide specific services such as for sharing photos, for sharing videos, some provide for sharing all kinds of content, etc. Social media sites have brought everyone closer to each other removing the barriers that used to exist several years back.

Social media websites allow the possibility of two complete strangers to communicate with each other. However, usually it is seen that people with prior mutual history have more chances of connecting with each other.

Today, social media websites are useful not just for individuals, but for governments, businesses and other organizations as well. These websites increase the outreach of such entities considering the number of people that are engaged with them at any given time. They also play a vital role for various alternative purposes. Artificial intelligence and its research is one nascent area which would further change the dynamics of social media and the way people utilize these platforms.


Ambit of social media websites

“Social media” is a very wide term encompassing within it various themes of differing nature. They include internet rooted services which may be available on one’s computer or one’s mobile device. Social media websites enable communication between people online, where they can also interact in communities and groups and share within themselves a vast variety of content. They include sites of the following categories:
a) Blogs – Blogs are short form of “web logs” which are like journals available on the online platform. Usually blog services are available for free of cost through various websites. Users create their own blogs for sharing information. In the usual format, the latest content is shown first, with the prior content in a reverse chronological order.
b) Media-Sharing Websites – Media sharing websites are platforms such as Instagram (which allows sharing of photos) or YouTube (on which people can share videos.) In most cases these websites are meant exclusively for multimedia content.
c) Social Bookmarking – Websites such as Pinterest where one can bookmark a particular website for viewing at a later point in time or like Reddit where content can be bookmarked and shared among online communities are included in this category.
d) Social Network Sites – The best example of a social networking site is Facebook. Various research and studies have tried to define them and have arrived at the definition - “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.” LinkedIn is another such website.
e) Status Update Services – These services are also called as “microblogging services” and allow users to update or post their “status”. It can include short information pieces on any topic that a user may wish to share online. Twitter can be considered a good example of this.
f) Virtual World Content – Often referred to as portals for Second Life, these websites recreate environments like virtual games where one can change their identities, create different “avatars” and communicate with other people online.
g) Wikis – These websites are encyclopedias that provide visitors information about various topics. These are not among the conventional social media websites because of their one-way communication. On certain websites like Wikipedia, one can also create a new page or correct information provided on a certain web-page.

The above categories are not water-tight and many sites operate in combinations of the above types. For example, a site like Facebook virtually encompasses most of the above categories.


The history behind these portals

Social media websites saw their inception in the latter part of 20th century when the expanse of the internet was increasing speedily. In 1997, what is often regarded as the first social media website – SixDegrees.com came into existence. The website allowed people to make friends, chat with them and enter into groups. The website closed within a very short span of time in 2000, making way for other sites like AIM and ICQ. Some of the most famous sites during the time include MySpace, Friendster, and Orkut.

The 2000s saw a change when sites like Facebook and Twitter were founded, in the years 2004 and 2006 respectively. Today these are the most popular social media sites. By early 2018, Facebook had around 2.1 Billion active users. Twitter, on the other hand, had 336 million monthly active users at around the same time.

The immense popularity of these social media sites can be attributed to several determinants. The internet revolution has had the biggest role to play. The advancements in computer technologies and mobile phones have contributed significantly too as almost everyone has his/her own mobile device these days.

Social media became a hot cake among the younger generation as it enabled them to share music, videos, and photos besides many other things. With such a large user base, companies and businesses also jumped in, mainly for marketing purposes. All this pumped in more and more money into the online sphere. Thus social media websites created a regenerative cycle for themselves.


Main highlights

Social media has changed the way people communicate with each other, allowing for newer methods of interaction such as video chat and live streaming to thousands of people. Any content that is posted online remains there till perpetuity, creating a vast pool of data that can be used by others. The aspect of accessibility too, has been evolving continuously, with almost all of the social media sites having their mobile platforms and offline services, which enhances their overall utility.

Their features, among various others, have designed the contours of the behavior of people on the internet. However, with this, several issues like that of privacy are often raised. Recently in the Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica incident, it was seen that privacy of users and security of their data should be of paramount importance. Any compromise on this front can lead to devastating consequences that may not be limited to a person, but may include societal and political upheavals. There are some other pressing concerns as well, such as fake news, hacking, cyber-crimes, etc.


Other significant uses of social media

Social media websites have evolved with times and have invented new areas where they can be put to use. For example, they have played an important role in situations of natural disasters and their relief operations. Information on any climatic change, which is intercepted well within time, can be spread to the people of particular region very quickly. Since everyone is readily available on some or the other social media network, it can prepare them well in advance to make necessary arrangements.

Fundraising also becomes easy, as a person from any corner of the world can easily donate money to be used in the calamity struck region. During the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Twitter saw around 11,000 tweets per minute. Facebook has a feature of marking oneself as “safe” allowing their near and dears to know their status. Similarly, Google has a “Person Finder” feature, where one can provide a missing person’s name which would be used by Google to find that person.

The internet becomes a hot space during political activities such as election where people get regular updates about elections campaigns, policies, debates, and other such news. During sporting events too, people can get minute by minute update of their games.

Many social media sites such as YouTube are infused with educational content relating to science, technology, linguistics, etc. which goes a long way in acquainting people of different kinds of information and educating them.

Another area where social media has helped immensely is advertising and business growth. People can enter into B2B collaborations and enter into partnerships with organizations which have similar ethics and goals. Companies can monitor their brand and the perception of their products among consumers, which assists them in devising their strategies. Websites like Ask.fm and Quora allow asking questions and gaining from other’s experience and knowledge.


The impact

Websites providing social media services have had a deep impact on the way people used to communicate. Users can explore their interests by engaging in discussions and sharing content online. Posts on different themes can gain widespread popularity and create trends overnight. This enables everyone to become aware of their surroundings and make informed decisions and choices in their lives.

The importance of social media for alternate purposes can in no way be understated. It has given voice to people not just for communicating with their friends but with the society as a whole. Alternate uses of social media websites are innumerable. Online networking sites have become a harbinger of social change as well. One can see several online movements aimed at social activism and dispersing of information at grassroots. Concerns of education, literacy, gender disparity, societal issues relating to health and medicine, etc. can all be addressed by making the best use of social media websites.