Facebook: I have had Facebook since I was in the 8th grade so it has been almost ten years since I first got it. My impression of Facebook is that it is very practical for certain things and can be extremely useful. It has also changed a lot over the past ten years from what I can tell. The main thing that I use it for is to communicate with people as well as stay in touch with friends who I don't speak to on an ongoing and daily basis. It is a nice way to see what people are up to in life and it is easy to stay in touch through Facebook. When I first got Facebook, people liked to post pictures and it was more of a way to chat with friends in a different form. I find that now I don't really post anything on my wall and the only thing I really use it for on a daily basis is to chat with people who I don't call or text.
Twitter: I am brand new to Twitter. I have been against getting an account for a long time now, mainly because I didn't really understand the point of having it. I didn't really get what the hype was and what purpose it served. Now I am beginning to understand and my impression of Twitter is certainly changing. Twitter is an informal way to have a conversation with all types of people. It is also extremely concise considering you only have 140 characters per post, which I find to be a great advantage to using Twitter because it limits the amount of what people can say. As opposed to Facebook, which has no word limit, I think this makes people really think about what they are saying. It is also less time consuming than Facebook is. Twitter is a conversational forum that people can choose with whom they want to engage in conversation and ignore all factors such as age, social class, and ethnicity. I like that you can follow whoever you want, unlike Facebook where you have to friend people to get approval. The character limit makes it so that people cannot ramble on and I find that to be very effective. When one is on Facebook, it is a lot of looking at what other people are doing and I find that often brings me down, but that is not the case with Twitter. You are not really looking at pictures of people, rather you are engaging in what could be meaningful conversations. Further, on Twitter you can follow your favorite celebrities, politicians, and athletes, which cannot always be achieved on Facebook. Both of these social networks serve their own purpose in a unique way.
Match.com: This is a different type of networking site than Facebook and Twitter. Match.com is an online dating website that allows people to meet via the Internet. You create a profile and fill in all different types of information to inform the website about yourself and what you are looking for. Match.com has a specific purpose: to allow people a medium to find other people they may be interested in dating. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, this is a social networking forum that aims at setting people up and the ultimate goal is for them to end up together. I don't find these online dating websites to be so successful in my personal experience. I find it difficult to meet people over the Internet and I much prefer the face-to-face interaction. I met my fiance through a friend and I find that to be a more trustworthy approach than to meeting someone online. You never really know who you may be talking to on a dating site. I know it does work for many people, but there is also something called "catfishing" where someone pretends to be someone they are not. This can be harmful and even dangerous to an individual. I know today, especially young people, a lot of people are using apps such as Tinder, Jswipe and others as a way to meet people. I think it is great if it works for you, but also you never really know what people's intentions are so you have to be careful with these dating networks. It can be really beneficial, especially for people who can't just walk up to someone and ask them out. I just hope that people are genuine and don't pretend to be someone they are not on these sites.
Instagram: The last form of social networking that I have had for a while and actually really like is Instagram. It is an online mobile photo sharing, video sharing and social networking service that allows people to take pictures and videos and then share them either publicly or privately on the app. Users can also share pictures and videos on other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Instagram is unique in that it is not really about having conversations with people such as on Twitter or about staying in touch with people such as on Facebook. It is a way for people to share their lives in a different way, solely through pictures and videos. I like this because I am into photography and I think it is cool to be able to share that with others. People post all different kinds of things on Instagram and follow a whole range of people. You can either just follow friends or you can follow celebrities to see what they are up to. The follower model is similar to Twitter. You can see all pictures and videos that your followers post, but you can also see most popular posts by others who you don't follow. There is a search tab where if there is something specific you want to search you write it in and all pictures will come up having to do with your search. Instagram is an awesome way to discover photos, unlike on Twitter and Facebook, which people are usually just posting pictures of what they are doing. Some people really get into the photography aspect of Instagram, which is what I like most about it. I don't find the video feature to be as useful and I have never used it. The purpose of Instagram is to make connections with others who see the world in interesting ways. You can find and follow people simply based on the images that inspire them and they can also follow you back. You can like others' pictures and comment as well, which provides a great way for feedback. Fun fact, it is owned by Facebook so clearly they are meant for different purposes, but both are a great way for social networking.
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