Internet evolution has brought many significant revolutions that has impacted our lives in a magnificent manner. Today is the world of digital media which is synonymous to social media. There are a plethora of social media sites that have their own functions!
Social media platforms have proved to be a powerful concept to support the people in grabbing three main elements- new connections, ease of sharing as well as wide avenues of opportunities. Owing to these reasons, they are so popular among other software and platforms. Even different businesses and ventures are striving hard to bring these platforms in best use.
As there are many new social media sites, making a list of all of them seems quite a daunting task. So, we have cut it short for you!
In this guide, you will come across some of the major social media platforms most popular right now and that are used by different businesses to gain new contacts. Along with this, you will learn about the main purpose and types of these platforms. So, let’s begin with the information!
What is Social Media Sites?
Social Media sites are online platforms that enable its users to connect with other users in order to share a particular information into the open market. In modern terms, any social media platform can be simply defined as a platform to connect with other people who are also users having similar interests!
The general idea behind its existence was crossing physical boundaries sitting at your place and connecting to your people virtually. From the idea of connecting people with their remote friends or relatives, it has evolved to creating connections with like-minded people from various parts of the world.
Types of social media platforms?
Social media platforms can be broadly classified into a number of diverse categories. You can find information related to each of these below:
- Social media networks — These platforms are particularly meant for connecting with other people by texts, calling as well as a video sharing option.
- Media sharing platforms — You are allowed to share your clicked photos, videos, or any other media via their platform.
- Social shopping platforms — Some platforms allow you to connect with vendors and shop their products by following the online procedures.
- Business Growthor trade networks — There are such platforms that help the businesses in trading goods and services by connecting to clients online.
- Customer review networks — Some sites allow you to find a business registered on their sites and give a review about it.
- Online Discussion forums — There are discussion platforms that are useful in sharing news as well as your ideas to the open audience.
- Bookmarking and content curation networks — There are certain networks that provide medium to curate content, save it and share it with the world.
- Blogging and publishing networks — The internet is filled with online content publishing sites that allow you to write blogs and publish them online.
- Interest-based networks — There are some interest-based platforms in which you can share hobbies as well as interests with others.
- Anonymous or No name social networks — Many social media sites allow you to communicate anonymously to random people.
These were some of the main classifications and you can select to use a particular social media sites by working on the specific area your business targets in!
How to choose a social media site for marketing?
Out of all the social media advantages, one of the most crucial one is regarded as marketing. Social media sets the stage free for all the professionals to connect with their potential leads directly without any middle-man, paving way for a direct association online, without the involvement of meeting physically. It thus, becomes extremely important to opt for social media apps if you are looking for different business connections online.
Choose the social media sites that suits your business needs well.
However, you should be able to recognize which platform can be used for promoting your business in the most effective way. For this, you will have to follow some vital steps that are shared below:
1. Recognize your target and target audience
As social media is all about connecting to people around the world, you should be very clear about your business goal as well as the right audience when you are specifically searching for your leads. Without them, it would be impossible to filter out the right connections and produce required results!
2. Select the right Platform and start working
Once you are crystal clear about what you need, you should look for answers to how you can fulfill the need. For that, selecting the right social media sites is a must owing to the availability of a large number of social media platforms! With this, I mean is if you are HR looking to hire some developers, you would go for LinkedIn or even facebook rather than Instagram or Pinterest.
Therefore, once you are done with choosing the best platform, you can prepare a well-structured strategy of posting texts, images developed by free mockup generators and videos as part of the campaigns and dedicatedly work on it. Now the selection of the right social media platforms for marketing is based upon 2 main things:
- Popularity of the Social Media sites
- Your Main focus
The right platform will be a combination of both these points and a lack of even one out of these two will not bear any fruitful results! So, always formulate your strategy only after considering the fulfillment of both these points to drive best outcomes.
A recent study has revealed that:
Every year about 25% annual growth is brought by Social media platforms.
So, if you are a businessman, entrepreneur or someone with a miracle idea, all you need to do is run a successful social media sites business strategy to acquire what you dream of!
What is the purpose of social media sites?
Social media sites play a pivotal role in numerous ways. Some of the key roles are given below:
- Share your images, videos or views with others: After creating your user profile, all you need to do is share all your favorite texts, pictures or videos with your followers.
- Build a community by adding new connections to your audience base: Social media platforms aid in adding a great number of users to your existing customer base and uplifting your brand name to a larger set of audience.
- Connect with Influencers: Once you have a profile on any such platform, you are bound to meet many social media influencers who will be useful in advertising your brand name all over the internet.
- Drive traffic to your website and generate leads: For business person looking to expand their lead generation methods, social media sites come as a boon for such budding businesses as they provide an open market to interact with clients regardless of any physical boundaries.
- Attract new customers and interact with existing loyal customers: Social media opens the gates to connect with new customers who are the core of establishing new business ventures in different areas of the world.
Ultimate Social Media Sites and Platforms List
According to the latest social media sites statistics, the addiction in the involvement of social media by the young generation has grown exponentially and is yet to reach more subtle grounds soon. Given below is a complete social media platforms list that is popular these days for different purposes. So, let’s get started with this comprehensive list!
For Business and Marketing
There are some social media sites that propel business growth by imparting a superb marketing plan. Some of their names are provided below:
1. Facebook
Facebook is a social networking site whose influence has only increased since it first rose to fame in 2006. There are two key features that appeal to its over 2.41 billion active monthly users (2019): the ability to share posts on your own terms, and its seamless use across various platforms with a single login.
The latter is very useful for businesses for marketing and advertising purposes. You can like, share, follow, and comment on the pages and accounts in your feed. Users can now share “stories” that disappear after 24 hours, and even order food from the app itself.
2. Twitter
Essentially a platform for microblogging, Twitter is a site where users can share their thoughts and opinions in 280 characters, called “tweets”. Twitter has grown in popularity mainly due to the concise and succinct content you find on there. This brief format works because it keeps in mind the attention spans of people using social media today.
But if a user wishes, they can make a “thread” and add multiple tweets in succession to a single tweet. From funny tweets to intellectual critique, you can find anything on here – and then proceed to tailor your feed accordingly, to suit your tastes.
3. Instagram
Often dubbed as Facebook for photos, Instagram is the site where people can showcase their talent – be it photography, videography, dance, art, singing, etc. Every user has a profile that can be set to either public or private mode. If set to private, only those accounts you allow to follow you can see your posts and activities.
You can choose which accounts to follow and which posts to like, comment on, and share. It also has stories that disappear after a full day. Instagram is a pretty straightforward application, and its emphasis on media sharing (photos and videos) lends its users the ability to be creative and innovative with what they upload.
4. Linkedin
In a nutshell, LinkedIn is a social media sites for your career. This is a professional space where anyone who wishes to broaden their career and employment opportunities can do so by making “connections” (like friends on Facebook) with people across the board. It is suitable for everyone – you can be a business entrepreneur, a fresh graduate looking for a job, or a marketing representative of an established company.
LinkedIn allows you to compile all your professional achievements, projects, and ventures in one place. This makes it easier for potential employers (and employees) to get a fair idea of how what you do and know can fit their needs.
5. IMQQ
According to Alexa, IMQQ is the seventh most visited website in the world. It was developed in China, and this platform provides its users with a plethora of services. You can make use of their instant messaging software for chatting, online chat rooms, and voice notes.
They also provide services that enable users to watch movies, shop, listen to music, play games, and go creative with microblogging too. After they removed their policy to only induct new users through paid memberships, now there are several Diamond schemes available on the app that users can subscribe to, and get varying benefits and privileges.
Video Sharing Platforms
As motion graphics are ruling the world, people can watch videos shared by others via these given social media sitess:
6. YouTube
YouTube is a prominent video sharing site worldwide. It’s simple and easy to use format is what drives millions of users to spend hours on it. Unlike other apps, there is a clear demarcation between the kinds of users here: there are those who upload content on YouTube, be it content creators or channels that promote movies and television series, and then there are the humongous amounts of viewers.
Users can subscribe to the channels they like. They get recommendations and suggestions of trending and related videos on another panel always. You can upload your video in the matter of a few minutes. You have to be logged in if you wish to like or comment on a video you come across.
7. Vimeo
Vimeo is a video sharing platform. It differs from YouTube in a very distinct manner – on YouTube, you will see content ranging from a wide variety of topics that are often shot and created from home, with little to no professionalism going on behind the camera. On Vimeo, along with a diverse range of content, the people uploading it are professional filmmakers and videographers. You will find videos that are based on music, animation, short films, etc on Vimeo. For users who are serious about what they upload and what they see on Vimeo, and want to access more features on the site, they can sign up for a paid membership.
8. Daily Motion
Daily Motion is a video sharing site that is growing at a fast rate and is amassing huge numbers of users. It has also partnered with giants like Showtime and HBO. The site is hosted in France. The content you will see on Daily Motion has indeed a wide variety and range.
There are videos you can stream, including those from Daily Motion itself, and various other shows and series, that were either uploaded elsewhere online or aired before. Daily Motion has partnered with various organizations to safeguard the young users on its site so that their experience is safer, better, and easier.
9. TikTok
TitkTok is where you can post short, creative, and funny video clips. The site gives users access to a large reserve of music bits, iconic audio clips from movies and shows that they can put as the background audio for the clips they create. To add more fun to the creation process, there are also features that allow users to filters on their face and other stickers too. You can make an account and surf through the various kinds of videos being made and follow their creators accordingly. You can also search for popular hashtags and trends to zero in on the clips you’ll like most.
10. SnapChat
Snapchat is a social media application that also has instant messaging services added to it. The biggest and most popular feature of the app is that the stories, photos, and videos you put up disappear after a few moments they have been viewed. If you choose to chat, you can save the messages, and the sender will be notified of the same. If you take a screenshot of any media you receive or view it again, the sender will get to know of that too. The impermanence of the content shared on Snapchat is its USP – it relieves users of the pressure to post the perfect video or photo.
11. IGTV
IGTV is relatively new in the realm of video-sharing platforms. It is available as both an app in itself, and also as a feature, you can access directly from the Instagram app. The videos uploaded on IGTV are special and different from the usual ones uploaded on pages in that these videos are longer and more suited to be viewed on smartphones horizontally.
You can look for creators by searching their names or through hashtags. You will be suggested related or trending videos too. Users can also link their IGTV videos in their stories or posts, and if you click on them, you will be led directly to IGTV where it will resume playing.
Messengers
For all the people who love texting, there are dedicated social media sites that enable its users to communicate through written texts:
12. FB Messenger
FB messenger can be viewed as an extension of Facebook and as a part of it as well. The Messenger app has to be linked to your Facebook account in order for you to be able to use it. You can connect with your friends on here and engage in conversations with them through text messages, photo, and video messages. You can also send each other voice notes as well. Users can also video call with each other. Another important feature of FB Messenger is that you can add multiple people into a single chat, and name it as you wish to. These are called group chats.
13. Whatsapp
WhatsApp is a messaging platform. You add the contact number of a person and you can text them if they also have an account on WhatsApp. You can also upload status updates on Whatsapp, and monitor who can watch them and who cannot. Only mutual contacts can see your status updates. Users can send text messages, voice notes, photos and videos to each other.
It also has features that allow national and international video calling and audio calling through the internet. Users can create group chats as well, and put appropriate names and display pictures for the same. You can leave the group or remove someone from them as well.
14. WeChat
WeChat enables mobile communication thorough texts and calls. It was developed in China in 2011, and since then its user base has only grown. Its main features are that it allows you to text, call (audio or video) in high-quality resolutions, and send photos and videos all you want. The registration process for WeChat is quite simple and it needs a phone number. You can use it on your phone from all platforms. The app is completely free, which means that there are no premium services and every feature on it can be accessed free of cost by everyone.
15. Telegram
Telegram is a fast-growing and developing messaging application. This app offers users an easy interface they can employ to send text messages, videos, photos, and files ranging from those in ZIP format to Word documents, provided they adhere to the set data and size limits for the application.
The main reason why so many people are using Telegram is that it is not merged with any big corporations. This disconnect and thus the fact that the original creators are still in control of everything means that there is no sly monitoring of the data, activities, or personal information of the users and their media going on at all.
16. Line
Line is an application you can use to communicate with your friends, family, and other people in your life. The focus of the app is on voice and video calls, though there are plenty of other features and facilities available on the application. Users can send each other multimedia files like that of photos, videos, etc.
There is an option to edit and add filters and stickers to your photos before you send them across to the person in the chat as well. Group chats are possible on Line, and up to 100 people can be added. Line has surpassed Skype over time with respect to the number of users regularly on it.
Photo Sharing
Pictures are an ultimate way of displaying a message in the most appropriate way. It is also said that pictures speak better than letters, these given social media platforms prove the same in the best way!
17. Pinterest
Pinterest is one of a kind picture sharing application. You can think of it as a cross between an organized, bookmarking service and a social media sites. To break it down, firstly, Pinterest allows you to browse through its huge number of images and categorize them according to your interests. So if you find a pretty image of a sunset, you can look for more and “pin” them to your board for sunsets and skies. In this way, it gives you the power to know more about your interests and compile them all in an organized manner. Secondly, whenever you like some image, you can follow the person behind it and comment on the post too.
18. Flickr
Flickr is to Instagram what LinkedIn is to Facebook. In other words, it is a platform where budding and professional photographers can come together and share with each other their works and interests. Flickr has all the features you will need to better organize and improve your photography skills and knowledge about it as well. You can interact with fellow photographers via group chats and engage in discussions as you please. There are many features that help you organize the work you have created, the work you like from your creations, and the work others have created and you like.
19. Tumblr
Tumblr is a place where you can post anything that comes to your mind in any form – be it in text, photos, videos, or audio and video links. Whatever it is, Tumblr has a place for it. There is a multitude of content on Tumblr, ranging from posts related to activism, poetry, literature, fan clubs of shows, series, movies, and celebrities. People interact with each other in order to comment on the art and opinions being shared in the form of posts. You can post on it from your desktop, smartphone, or tablet with ease. The app is available across iOs and Android too.
20. We Heart It
We Heart It is a photo-sharing platform which is unique in its own right. It allows users to select the images and photographers they like and put them together in one place in an organized manner. You can upload images that you want to as well. The site is said to mostly consist of inspirational quotes and sayings, so if you like them, you will like the experience on We Heart It. All the images and quotes you like can be added to collections on your profile. We Heart It is thus somewhere you can look into your interests and broaden your horizons.
Others
Besides the famous categories, there are different social media platforms that have stood up for their unique functions. Every platform performs set of roles that is useful for users in one way or the other. Check out some of such platforms below:
21. Medium
Medium is an online blogging website which encourages the authors around the world to write blog posts so that the readers could gain knowledge about different topics. This platform is a stage for all the professional and upcoming writers to exhibit their write-ups in front of the world. This website was founded by the former CEO of Twitter, Evan Williams and was launched on August 15, 2012. By the year 2016, Medium has got 7.5 million posts and 60 million users reading it. It offers a monthly subscription of $5 and a yearly membership of $50 to its readers along with some variations in the bookmark section and audio narrations.
22. Quora
Quora is regarded as one of the highest-ranking websites which are famous for answering queries and questions of different users. It is an American website which was founded by former Facebook employees Adam D’Angelo and Charlie Cheever in the year June 2010. Quora has been an inspiration for the many users as it offers a space to the users to edit their opinions based upon the understanding of the particular question. Also, users are free to report an answer if it is irrelevant or violating some moral regulations. Every year there is a Quora Worldcup Meeting in which writers from different countries would gather and share their content and views. This initiative was found to connect global work and build relationships.
23. Reddit
Reddit is an amazing social media news aggregation platform in which all the registered members are share images, blog post or text links which are being voted by the other users. This website has around 330 million Redditors and approximately 138,000 active communities. Steve Huffman is the co-founder and the CEO of Reddit. This private limited website was established on 23rd June 2005. It is headquartered in San Fransisco, California. Moreover, it offers Reddit premium membership package that allows users to view ad-free content on their website. Reddit also provides silver coupons ad gold coins as a token of reward for quality content.
24. Ask.fm
Ask.fm is a wonderful social networking website which is available in 49 languages. This website helps the users to create their profile accounts and ask questions from the other members. This platform connects the people around the globe and provides them a common pathway to connect with each other for their questions.
It was established on 16th June 2010. The main headquarters of ask.fm is in Riga, Latvia. The current owner of this website is Noosphere Ventures which is an asset management firm in California. Ask.fm is the perfect example of how cyber securities actually work with users in the real world.
For Social Bookmarking
Want to save whatever you like on social media, that’s exactly what these given social media sites do! Read more to know everything in detail:
25. Delicious
Delicious is considered to be an excellent platform for social bookmarking. This platform was established by Joshua Schachter along with Peter Gadjokov in September 2003. The main purpose of this website is to ensure a medium so that people could share and store their favorite bookmarks from the website. Pinboard is the current owner of Delicious.
The website of Delicious has a non-hierarchical synchronization of the bookmarks. All the bookmarks are freely available in read-only mode. The delicious website was acquired by Pinboard on 1st June 2017 and Pinboard made a few changes in its system by discontinuing the previous booking service and turning it into a paid subscription-based service.
26. Digg
Digg is a classic news aggregator specially designed for providing different stories to the readers comprising of political issues, science, IT, lifestyle and internet issues. This platform allows its users to vote and comment about the subject matter uniting all the similar users to connect with one other.
This social news website was founded by Jay Adelson along with Kevin Rose in November 2004. Also, the main headquarters of Digg is in New York City, United States. Thus, Digg was the only medium which helped Reddit to gain popularity by the votings and submissions of the people around the world.
27. StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is an advertisement search engine website that provides recommendations over the internet browsing to the users. It is an amazing platform that enabled an online ranking of the webpages, images, social networking applications, preferences based analysis, videos and advertising principles. Geoff Smith and Garrett Camp are the main founding fathers of StumbleUpon.
It was launched over the internet in November 2001. StumbleUpon is headquartered in San Fransisco, California. By the time in April 2012, there were around 1 billion stumbles and 25 million registered users of StumbleUpon over the internet. It provided a plethora of services to its customers like web surfing, URL shortening, Toolbar linking and many more.
28. Mixx
Mixx is regarded as a simple social media website that grabs the interest of the audience by offering them a huge content of knowledge and use data based upon their location and preferences. Peers are fascinated by the combined use of blogging techniques and bookmarking in it to create a unified platform for students around the world. It not only offers useful web content but also adds on images, videos and graphics to retain the attention of the user. Mixx was founded in 2007 Recommended Reading Inc. in Virginia. But now, Chime.in has ceased the services of Mixx since December 2011.
Social Publishing
Are you looking for a social media sites for informative publishing? Go ahead and learn more about these given social media platforms!
29. SlideShare
Slideshare is an amazing platform associated with LinkedIn which provides professional information and content in the form of documents, videos, powerpoints, etc. It is a hosting service which also enables the users to comment, rate, like and review the slides. Slideshare has around 80 million users every month. Rashmi Sinha is the founder of Slideshare and it was launched on 6th October 2006. Slideshare is just similar to Youtube with the only difference that it provides useful content in the form of slides. Earlier, Slideshare was introduced to lower down the burden of business professionals to gather content over the vast internet. But now, it is open for use to all the people around the globe.
30. Scribd
Scribd is the most useful American open publishing platform that offers e-books and audiobook subscription for its readers. The co-founder and CEO od Scribd is Trip Adler. It was established in March 2007. Also, the main headquarters of Scribd is in San Francisco, California. The e-book subscriptions can be easily downloaded over any Android or IOS device. There is a huge network of readers gathered at this private destination and the total users have crossed upto 80 million users. Also, it has been recommended for suggestions to Netflix for reading books. Scribd has gained a lot of popularity over the general public that even students and college goers are preferring to study the books published by 100 publishers in it.
Social Media Management
Do you have multiple accounts on different social media sites or are you planning to run a campaign all over the internet simultaneously? If yes, you can manage all under one roof with social media management tools. Know more about these below:
Agorapulse.com
An excellent tool to handle all your social media management woes! With Agorapulse tool, your team can manage all the social media content posting and campaign results in an organized manner without worrying about anything. You can schedule everything in advance and keep track of all the post reach on different social media platforms simultaneously.
Not only this, this is quite affordable and can be bought by businesses of all sizes. The in-built CRM, collaborations with the team as well as one-click reports are some of the brilliant functions that make it a one-stop solution for social media sites management.
Conclusion
The use of different social media sites has truly brought a significant change in the lives of millions of people throughout the world. In short, it has transformed the world into a global village and is still onto the path of imparting ubiquitous solutions to all its users.
Besides this, there are several social media management platforms developed so as to keep an eye on all the ongoing campaigns on different social media sites. With so much to give, the only thing you need to focus is creating relevant images and working on maintaining brand awareness. Are you ready to take this challenge?
