The online platforms that come to mind when you mention the term Social Media are Facebook, Twitter (now X), LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat. But are these all?
There are over 2,000 social media platforms. The majority of them have a very small follower base and are hardly known. It is the behemoths that come to mind when we talk of social media.
Statista.com places the total number of social media users across platforms at 4.89 billion. This is three-fourths of the world’s population over 13 years of age.
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Different social media platforms serve different needs, and their user base is different. Broadly speaking, these platforms can be divided into nine different categories:
# Category 1: Social Networking
The Social Networking sites are by far the most popular Social Media sites. They enable members to interact with each other. The interaction goes much beyond text messages. It includes posting photographs and videos that may be about members or about subjects that interest them.
All postings are in real time, allowing members to share information as it happens. Members can post comment on content posted by their fellow members creating conversation threads that add value to initial postings.
The first Social Networking site to gain popularity was Sixdegrees.com. Later, MySpace.com and Facebook.com emerged as important social networking destinations. Today, Facebook is the dominant networking site in the world. It is more of a family network and has more members than any other Social Media site.
Instagram, which is owned by Meta, the company that also owns Facebook, has emerged as the first-choice social networking site for youth. Instagram was initially a social media platform where youngsters posted photographs. Now, the post popular format is Instagram reels. Most media influencers can be found on this site.
The Social Networking sites are not limited to friends. There is a popular sub-genre that has gained traction in recent years. The site that best symbolizes this form of social networking is LinkedIn.com. It connects working professionals and job seekers, and has emerged as the top head-hunting site. The postings too are job-oriented where members showcase their professional skills and activities.
# Category 2: Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking sites enable members to store the addresses of their favourite web pages online. A major advantage of this facility is that people can access their favourite pages from any computer, and from any part of the world. They are no longer restricted to their Favourites folder housed on their personal or official laptop.
Social Bookmarking sites provide one more advantage. They allow you to share these bookmarks with your friends. The requirement is that your friends too should be a member of the bookmarking site. Not only this, you can promote your content on these sites as bookmarks.
Some of the popular Social Bookmarking sites are Feedly, StumbleUpon and Pocket.
# Category 3: Media Sharing Sites
These are social media sites that allow members to store and share still images, podcasts and videos online. Most of them are free though a few also charge membership fee, based on features and services that they provide.
The media sharing site can be divided into two broad categories:
1. Video sharing sites: These sites, as the name suggests, allow members to post, share and stream videos. Visitors can rate videos, leave comments or share them on their blogs.
YouTube is the best example of a video sharing site. Millions of videos are published on this website by members from across the world. There are no editors; each member can create and publish videos. The best ones go on to capture the attention of millions of web users.
2. Photo sharing sites: The photo-sharing sites have emerged as huge databases of photographs. They allow members to post, view and share photographs as thumbnails, medium or full-sized images. Members are encouraged to tag the photographs so they can be searched and found easily. Some of the popular photo-sharing sites are Flickr.com, Photobucket.com and Snapfish.com.
3. Audio sharing sites: The audio networking sites allow audio files to be published on their servers. These can be podcasts or musical offerings for being browsed or shared by members. A popular audio networking site is Soundcloud.com.
# Category 4: Blogging Platforms
Blogs were born much before the concept of social media came into existence. But if you see the functionalities they offer, you realize that they are like are the forerunners of social media. They offer personalized web address, free web space and powerful content management systems enabling members to create, publish and share content literally free of cost. The most popular Blog platforms are WordPress.com, Blogger.com and Tumblr.com. Together, they have made it possible for millions of people to write billions of words every day.
# Category 5: Microblogging Networks
Twitter which is now known as Platform X after its acquisition by Elon Musk is the finest example of microblogging. This platform powered a new kind of social networking. Millions of people took to the platform to tweet 140-character messages every day, giving a new dimension to online communication.
The message size was raised to 280 characters and now, in its news avatar, X allows longer posting in the form of threads. The tweets are much more than personal messages. They are being used to promote political and business interests, and also to break news. Each tweet is instant, and published in real time.
Twitter promoted the concept of hashtags, which has been adopted by some other social networks, particularly Instagram .
A new microblogging platform that has come up recently is Threads. It has been set up by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
# Category 6: Wikis
Wikis allow members to create, edit and build content as a collaborative effort. This Social Media category gained popularity by the stunning success of Wikipedia, the world’s most famous Wiki. What makes Wikis unique is that they are built by the wisdom of hundreds unconnected people.
There are two kinds of Wikis: public and private. The public Wiki is like Wikipedia. Anyone, who is a member of a public Wiki, can add, correct and update content. The private Wikis provide editing rights to a limited few.
# Category 7: Discussion Forums
Discussion Forums have evolved as a very powerful form of social networking on the net. These networks use the wisdom of the crowds to solve the problems faced by individual members. Two good examples of discussion forums are Reddit and Quora. Members can raise questions in these fora, and someone with knowledge of that subject can provide the answer. Redditt also allows discussions on a wide range of subjects including news.
# Category 8: Consumer Review Networks
These social networks publish customer reviews about products or services. They also provide a rating about the services for others to take a call. One of the first examples of consumer review networks was TripAdvisor.com. It encouraged tourists to leave reviews and ratings of hotels and places they visited. The reviews became important guides for friends and families planning a vacation. Some of the other consumer review networks are Yelp and OpenTable.
# Category 9: Messaging Apps
The rise of the mobile phone has made messaging apps a key form of personal and social communication. Their simple interface and ease of use have made these apps extremely popular across all age groups. Two popular examples of these apps are WhatsApp and Telegram. These apps, like other social media networks, are also being used by businesses.
Editor’s note: This is a revised post. The earlier post titled Social Media can be organized in 6 clear categories was published on January 12, 2014.
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