A guide to web 2 tools

MySpace

MySpace has two primary uses. The first is as a means of informal communication. It is widely used by young people in replacement of more traditional means of communication such as e-mail

Many companies and brands also use MySpace as a marketing tool.

One attractive feature of MySpace is that users are able to customise and skin profiles.
MySpace allows for some HTML and CSS to be used as a way of customisation.

Although customisation is permitted, MySpace has many limitation as to what you are able to do with regards to layout, this has led to many of the profiles being badly designed and lack any kind of uniformity, as a result many people find MySpace hard to navigate.

The customisation of MySpace is attractive to both teen who wish to express themselves, as well as marketers who wish to add company logos and colours and branding,

Other features of MySpace include:

The ability to send a bulletin. The bulletin feature is a useful way of sending a message to your entire contact list without having to send the message to each individual person. Bulletins are deleted after 10 days.

Myspace users can create groups. When a user creates a group, they set up an individual page that lets members of the group have a common message and bulletin board as a way of sharing information

MySpace has a mobile compatible site that can be seen by visiting http://m.myspace.com/

The demographics of MySpace users can be seen here http://www.quantcast.com/myspace.com#demographics

Practical Uses of MySpace

MySpace has become the premier space for marketing to the youth market. As companies become more aware that people are spending more time online it is more important for them to be prominent in online spaces.

Bands are using MySpace as a way of distributing content (music and videos and news) to their fans. By having the content online this means it can be visited multiple times by people, also with this instant method of publishing it allows fans to have a closer relationship with the band.

By using the “top-friends” area bands are able to relate to and associate with other brands or people that complement their line, again this is just another method that allows for and promotes discovery of similar products.

FaceBook

FaceBook is currently the world’s most popular social network recently taking the title from MySpace. Originally it was created strictly for the use of college students but was recently opened up so that anyone could sign up and use the service. Since FaceBook opened up the service it has had an expoential growth. FaceBook is used by a very wide majority of the population ranging from young teens right through to people aged 70+

FaceBook’s success is down to its clean interface and easy to use navigation (something which MySpace is lacking)

However, FaceBook does not allow for any customisation of profiles, which can be seen as a negative or a positive depending on where you stand and what you want to use the service for.

As with most social networks FaceBook allows its user to share pictures and videos, ‘tagging’ is a big part of FaceBook. If you tag a friend in a picture or video, then that picture will also be shared with them allowing them to view it. The idea of pictures and videos being shared by tagging was an idea first seen within FaceBook, but now many social networks have caught up and allow for ‘tagging’

Another original and defining feature of FaceBook was the ‘status update’ this allowed for users to let their network of friends know what they were doing (or about to do) at any moment in time. This feature has now been added to many social networking sites, with one such website (Twitter) being developed with solely the purpose of status updates.

Built in to the FaceBook website is an instant messaging system, allowing user to see which of their friends are currently online. If a users friend is appearing online, then they are able to “chat” with them in a similar fashion to using a standalone instant message client.

FaceBook has a mobile compatible site that can be seen by visiting http://m.facebook.com/

The demographics of FaceBook users can be seen here http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com#demographics

Practical Uses of FaceBook

The most practical use of FaceBook is as a place to communicate with friends. FaceBook acts as an area to share rich media with each other.

It allows users to update each other about recent events, or what is currently happening in their life.

FaceBook is also a practical tool to promote and organise events between friends, with the ability to invite and receive replies from guest letting you know if, are able to attend or not. Often this tool is used to organise birthday parties and other similar informal events between friends and family.

How to Create a FaceBook Profile

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is used as a strictly professional networking tool, enabling people to keep a list of contacts that they have made through work.

You can think of LinkedIn as your online C.V, it is your public facing window to the world to advertise the skills and talents that maybe attractive to a prospective employer. As such this means people generally have one profile picture of themselves, (rather than the vast amounts of pictures located in social settings that people tend to add to a services such as MySpace or FaceBook). It is advised to have a professional picture taken for your LinkedIn profile, however as long as you are presenting yourself in a professional manner, then you’re in safe territory on this social network.

As with most Web 2 apps, the first adopters of this social network were people who had specialist interests in technology and the Internet and those who worked freelance in digital media, who needed a way to promote themselves for a low cost and to a large amount of people. As this network is expanding more and more people from different professional backgrounds have began to join this network as well as many small companies who can see how valuable it is to make connections and build up positive relationships with other businesses

The demographics of LinkedIn users can be seen here http://www.quantcast.com/linkedin.com#demographics
 

Practical Uses Of LinkedIn

Linked in is most powerful when used a business-networking tool to build relationships with similar businesses, and between people that work in similar businesses. By being aware of what is happening with other business and people in similar industries you have an increased awareness. If you consider awareness gives more control and more control gives more choice, you can begin to see the power of this tool.

Bebo

Bebo were one of the first social networks to emerge, and originally attracted teens from the London area of the UK. Bebo has less users than FaceBook or MySpace and remains to be mainly used by young teens as a way to communicate and share images and pictures with one another.

Bebo allows user to add “modules” to their profiles. Modules include a video box, a photo box, a box to display blog posts, a box for quizzes and polls

The lastest and newest feature of Bebo is “Life-Story”. Life-Story is a timeline that shows your events letting you and others easily view what happened in a particular period of their life.

Bebo has a mobile compatible site that can be seen by visiting http://www.bebo.com/m/signin

The dempgraphics of Bebo users can be seen here http://www.quantcast.com/linkedin.com#demographics