In the last learning module, we spent the entire week on Facebook, the leading social networking site on the internet. Twitter too could be considered a social networking site but it is not strictly social networking.

Here we will look more closely at social networking as a component of the social media landscape.

Social networks are built around trust and social networks have been around for millennia. Here are a couple definitions from The Social Media Bible,

A trusted network is a group of like minded people who have come together in a common place to share thoughts, ideas, and information about themselves. These groups sometimes include more than 100 million registered users that host more than 10 billion photographs — as with the social networking site Facebook. A trusted network can also be as small as a single, influential person.

A social network, trusted network, virtual community, e-community, or online community is a group of people who interact through newsletters, blogs, comments, telephone, email, and instant messages, and who use text, audio, photographs, and video for social, professional, and educational purposes. The social network’s goal is to build trust in a given community.

Please read the chapter Say Hello to Social Networking in the Social Media Bible (pages 43-67).

Read Who Uses Social Networks and What Are They Like? and Social Networks are More Than Networking.

Social Networking Examples

In this learning module we will explore in more detail four other social networking sites. Specifically,

1. LinkedIn
2. MySpace
3. Ning
4. Our Class

Please read the chapter Social Networking in the Social Media Bible (pages 449-472) to learn the range of social networking sites available.

LinkedIn was founded in 2003 and has grown from 350 original members to over 60 million members.

According to LinkIn, they are “an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.”

Through your LinkedIn network you can:

• Manage the information that’s publicly available about you as professional
• Find and be introduced to potential clients, service providers, and subject experts who come recommended
• Create and collaborate on projects, gather data, share files and solve problems
• Be found for business opportunities and find potential partners
• Gain new insights from discussions with likeminded professionals in private group settings
• Discover inside connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
• Post and distribute job listings to find the best talent for your company

Like other social networking sites, LinkedIn is free to join and use but LinkedIn also offers a premium account for a fee. Compare Accounts.

Activities:

• Learn the LinkedIn Basics
• LinkedIn Profiles
• New Users Starter Guide

After reading the links above, go to the LinkedIn Learning Center and use the navigation options on the left side of the screen to pick areas of interest. For example, they have special guides for specific groups such as consultants or non-profits.

I encourage you to sign up and take for one of their regularly offered live webinars.

Be sure to use the RSS options and notification options in LinkedIn to stay connected with the community. You can also link your Twitter account to LinkedIn so that when you post on Twitter it updates in LinkedIn -- one method for staying active without actually using the site.

Other Readings:

• Five Benefits of LinkedIn for Bloggers
• 5 Marketing Tips and Tools for Making a Connection with LinkedIn
• Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
• 7 Ways to Get More Out of LinkedIn

MySpace was founded in 2004 (and acquired by News Corp. in 2005). They currently have about 100 million active users.

According to MySpace, they are “a technology company connecting people through personal expression, content, and culture. MySpace empowers its global community to experience the Internet through a social lens by integrating personal profiles, photos, videos, mobile, messaging, games, and the world’s largest music community.”

If you are involved with music in any capacity, then you should be familiar with and use MySpace. Beyond that, the main communities in MySpace are:

• Music
• Video
• Apps
• Celebrity
• Comedy
• Fashion
• Games
• Impact (Political community)

Activities:

• Privacy Settings
• Top Questions about Your Profile
• Spend some time on your Account Settings page and follow each of the links to customize.
• Set your custom URL in the MySpace Mail application. For example, I can be found at http://myspace.com/kenleyneufeld

Be sure to use the RSS options and notification options in MySpace to stay connected with the community. You can also link your Twitter account to MySpace.

Other Readings:

• Real Time MySpace Updates in Google
• Twitter Just Passed MySpace in Number of Status Updates
• Facebook for the Rich, MySpace for the Poor
• Top 3 Ways MySpace Bands and Artists use Email Marketing Programs
• Ten Things Nonprofits May Not Know About MySpace

Unfortunately, according to a recent (Feb 2010) Fast Company editorial, MySpace may be waning. Noah Robischon wrote, “short of a massive turnaround, it’s hard to see how MySpace will be able to regain its momentum anytime soon.”

Whatever the case may be, there are still millions of people using MySpace and if you are in the music field then you definitely need to know and use this service.

Ning was founded in 2004. Ning has more than 2 million networks created and 43 million registered users. The company is privately held.

According to Ning, they are “the social platform for the world’s interests and passions online. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Ning offers an easy-to-use service that allows people to join and create Ning Networks.”  They are a little different than the other two services discussed here in that Ning focuses on allowing you to create your own network rather than a fully integrated service like LinkedIn, Facebook, or MySpace.

Some highlights of Ning:

• Easy -- in less than 30 seconds have a Ning Network up and running.
• Engagment -- get access to member data in your Ning Network.
• Customized -- fully integrate your brand with complete visual control. Even use your own domain name.
• Unique -- integrate the social experience that you need for your Ning Network.
• Viral -- automatic Twitter integration, email invitations, and branded media players.
• Profit -- run your own ads and earn 100% of the revenue.

Basically, you can create your own private social network with all the bells and whistles. Keep in mind that you might have a Ning Network account to keep track of all your networks (both ones you are a part of and the ones you create) but then each Ning Network might have it’s own account creation, setup, and configuration.

Activities:

• Sign up for a Ning Network
• Create Your Perfect Ning Network
• Share Content and Post Your Status Updates to Twitter Directly
• Control Your Email Settings and Messages
• Use Your Own Domain (optional)

Other Readings:

• In Building Communities, Marketers Can Learn From Cults
• 5 Tips for Creating Non-Profit Online Communities
• Consider Ning to broaden social networking strategy
• 6 politician-powered Ning networks
• 6 Ways to Use Ning for Business

The final example for today’s learning module is our very own class site. Essentially we have a social network built for the class with all the features of a typical social network.

On our class site, we can:

• Built in messaging
• Blogging
• Friends
• Status Updates
• Post pictures, videos, etc.
• Groups

Much like Ning, but using a software program called WordPressMU.