How do you start up a social networking website?

bob asked:


I have a great idea for a new kind of social networking website but I don’t know what to do to get it started. What do I need to do?

Social Web Networking

Social Networking for Businesses

Louise Meers asked:




Social networking – the phrase is everywhere these days. Blogs this. MySpace that. These new technologies have revolutionised the way we function in the 21st century. But what can they do for you and your business? A lot, actually. These sites involve way more than posting pictures online and sending messages to your friends. Online social networking sites exist purely to build relationships and in the business world this is a very important thing. If you’re looking for a way to build up relationships with other businesses or to reach out to clients, this is definitely the new age way to go.

Popular online social networking tools include blogs, MySpace.com, Facebook.com and Twitter.com. All offering distinct and different features, it’s up to you to decide which will be best for your business networking needs. Below is a summary of each of these networking tools and how they can get you connected to clients, customers and other businesses.

Blogs

Blogs (the collaboration of ‘web log’) have been around since the early 1990s and have continued to grow in popularity since. In December 2007 it was reported by blog search engine site, Technorati, that there were 112 million blogs out there in cyberspace. Blogs are a great way to let the world know what you’re all about. You can write anything you want in your blog. It’s also a good way to get feedback, as others are able to comment on what you have written. Google also loves blogs, so your blog is likely to be picked up by the search engine through the use of keywords. That’s more exposure for your business and it’s absolutely free.

A handy aspect of the blog for business networking is the blogroll. A blogroll is a list of affiliated sites that appears in your blog’s sidebar. Viewers of your blog can see whom you’re associated with and who is associated with you. This helps you build up reputation, credibility and authenticity.

So how do you become a blogger? It’s easy. There are two ways you can do this.

1. Sign up to a site such as blogger.com, LiveJournal.com or WordPress.com. Set up account and the hard work is done for you. Just type away, hit publish and your message will instantly be out there.

2. Get a blog incorporated into your existing site. This is the more professional approach, and it will assist in getting potential clients or customers back onto your website if you update frequently.

PROS: easy to use, great exposure through search engines and they’re an extremely popular mode of communication at present

CONS: need frequent updating if they are to be successful

MySpace.com

This site is extremely popular. Launched in 2003, MySpace.com allegedly has over 100 million accounts registered to it. The site itself has a wide variety of features that can help with business networking. MySpace.com is also a great way to gain exposure as profiles can be made to be highly public – to view someone’s page you do not have to be registered with the site.

For business purposes, the following are features that prove useful in creating and maintaining networks and relationships with allies and customers.

‘Top Friends’: here is where you rank your friends. It’s a good space to show who you’re affiliated with – hopefully they will return the favour and will be promoting you on their page as well!

Bulletins: posting a bulletin sends a message to everyone on you friends list. It’s a quick and simple way to get a message out there.

Groups: joining a group gives you a common page with others in the group. It’s another way of showing whom you’re associated with, where you’re employed, or what your interests are.

PROS: lots of active users, interactive

CONS: large following of teenagers using it for solely social purposes

Facebook.com

Often regarded as the grown-ups MySpace.com, Facebook.com has been around since 2004 but gained prominence in 2006 when it became available to everyone over the age of 13. Facebook.com is especially known for its networking features. Belonging to certain networks and groups is an important aspect of Facebook.com. Users can choose to belong to one main network (such as their company or university network) and those who belong to that network can see their profile. It’s a good way of building contacts in your chosen industry and keeping in touch with those from work. Other useful features include:

Groups: users can belong to multiple groups, and the groups you belong to shows up on your profile’s sidebar.

The Wall: allows you to post messages to those on your friends list or in your network.

Status: updating this shows users on your friends list or network what you are doing – a great way to tell everyone that you’re working hard!

Facebook.com also has a News Feed which alerts you as to what’s going on with your friends, upcoming events and profile changes.

PROS: dedicated to networking, more mature users, usability is good

CONS: high levels of privacy – you need to be friends with people or in their network to view their information (although there are options to make your information more public)

Twitter.com

Twitter.com is a relatively new social networking site that was established in 2006. It differs from MySpace.com and Facebook.com as it is a purely text-based medium. With Twitter.com, you post short messages to your page (up to 140 characters) to alert others, who are ‘following’ you, of what you are doing or where you are…or anything you want. Twitter.com has a simple search option so it is easy to find people you know or businesses that you want to see updates from. Like the other sites, this is another way of linking yourself to other people, businesses or organisation. It helps to establish connections. People are generally interested in other people, so let clients and associated businesses know what you’re up to – it will create personality for your business and strengthen relationships.

PROS: it is simple and doesn’t have redundant features for business networking. Twitter.com also branches out – you can access it from your mobile, software on your browser or through instant message

CONS: not as well-known as other social networking sites

Embracing social networking technology

Go on, give it a try. By embracing this communication technology you are essentially deepening links between you and other businesses, and promoting yourself to clients and potential customers. Don’t underestimate the power of the Internet – make a name for your business on it and you will reap the rewards. Business networking is key to a successful business so get out there and let the world know what you’re all about.



Social Networking News

Social Networking Among All

Jonathan Mac asked:




The Internet which is considered as the world’s largest library is also used for absolute communication. National borders aren’t even speed bumps on the information superhighway. The rapid growth of the Internet through recent years is because of the intensification of social networking websites. These social networking websites are welcomed by people from teens to businessmen.

Social Networking among Teens

The social networking websites are given a warm welcome by teens because of the easiness to get new friends online. Repots indicate that teens are using the Internet extensively to communicate with each other through the social networking websites. Social networking is booming as teens could share their ideas, post comments, upload photos, and share the information about the latest happenings in their world and so on through them. Social networking websites like myspace, friendster, and facebook has become socially acceptable among majority of teens.

Social Networking among Advertisers

Social networking websites are also welcomed by advertisers around the globe. For example, the famous social networking website, myspace generates over $1 billion as advertising revenue. There is nothing to wonder why these websites draw many advertisers. These social networking websites have the ability to draw the attention of a massive audience and hard to reach young consumers. And this is what advertisers are looking for. Moreover, social networks are able to target advertising based on the profile of the consumers.

Social Networking among Business

Nowadays, businessmen consider the social networking websites like myspace as opportunities to promote their business. As the web traffic in social networking websites are high, these businessmen have a higher chance of building web presence than the competitor who is not utilizing these methods. The next important reason why people use these social networking websites for business promotion is because of their ability to build effective backlinks. With a little patience and persistence one can utilize the social networking websites like myspace to build web traffic and sales.

Social Networking websites for all

The recent growth of social networking websites has grabbed the attention of web designers also. The professional web designers around the globe design social networking websites based on one’s need. These experienced social networking web designers are capable of creating stunning networking websites for different uses. It means that you can even own a social networking website like myspace with the help of these web designers.

However the social networking websites added to the growth of the Internet. More people spend more time in using the Internet than ever before. Communication has never been easier than at present. All these changes are seen because of the rapid growth of the social networking websites.



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