Social Networking Sites

Upon visiting a range of social networking sites, predominately Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, I not only learned that different social media sites are used for different purposes, but also have an effect on the demographic of the user base as well as the magnitude of applications aside from the predominately noted uses. Facebook, for example, houses the largest amount of users who have created a profile, but is statistically less active daily than Twitter and Instagram. The demographic of active users on Facebook in the United States tend to lean toward an older generation, perhaps our parents or aunts and uncles looking to connect to family abroad or to just stay in touch with extended family. Media sites such as Instagram are focused primarily on photo sharing and therefore appeal to a younger demographic more technologically savvy. This is also true for the newest application reviewed in terms of release date, Snapchat. Snapchat is targeted towards the younger crowd, with benefits to those who live their lives on the go and are constantly moving and meeting new people. Twitter is definitely the most versatile platform I've reviewed, with applications ranging from simply updating your status to inform your followers of the last meal you've consumed to reviewing products and growing your business through networking with all of your contacts. The 'micro-blog' approach of Twitter appeals to a wide demographic because tweets are limited in the amount of characters which could be posted therefore stories are straight-forward and you don't need to invest a lot of time into the platform to interact with your contacts.