How Connected Are You: A Look At The World Of Social Media Networking Sites
We’ve come a long way. Before businesses realised their monetary value in terms of content promotion, social networking sites were just that — websites for networking. These online-based tools broke all physical barriers and permitted people to connect and share ideas, videos and photos with each other regardless of their physical location. While instant messaging on mobile phones preceded this phenomenon, the ability to share photos and videos defined the popularity of social networking sites with the masses.
Before the likes of Orkut and Facebook touched our lives, one had to rely upon enthusiastic classmate or a generous old teacher to organise reunions to stay in touch with old school and college friends. Today, while the older generation expresses pleasure over meeting old classmates over Facebook, the younger generations have moved on to more exciting forms of interaction online. Snapchat and Instagram are the most popular apps among teenagers in different countries. Blackberry messaging service may have been short lived, however, WhatsApp continues to assert its popularity in most geographies. China’s WeChat, also known as the master app in China, is the preferred platform not just for social interactions but for business dealings too.
According to statistics collated by Brandwatch, out of the 7.6 billion people that live on this planet, 4.2 billion are internet users and 3.03 billion are active social media users. On an average, people have 5.54 social media accounts. Social media users grew by 121 million between Q2 2017 and Q3 2017. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp handle 60 billion messages a day. If social networking sites were countries, their populations would make them bigger than most countries.
User numbers, as of April 2018
● 4Chan: 27.7 million
● Airbnb: 150 million users
● Facebook: 2.072 billion users
● Flickr: 90 million users
● Google+: 111 million users
● Instagram: 800 million users
● LinkedIn: 500 million users
● Myspace: 15 million users
● Periscope: 10 million users
● Pinterest: 200 million users
● Reddit: 234 million users
● Snapchat: 178 million daily users
● Twitter: 330 million users
● WeChat: 1.12 billion users
● Weibo: 600 million users
● WhatsApp: 900 million users
● YouTube: 1.5 billion users
In today’s day and age, one cannot imagine being denied access to any of these platforms. In the words of Orkut Buyukkokten the pioneering founder of social networking sites, …we met amazing new people. We went on dates. We found new jobs. We even got married and had kids because of Orkut. We made it happen, together.
However, recent times have seen social networking sites being censured for promoting hatred behind the veil of online persona. Facebook and Twitter in India have been criticized for permitting public shaming of people through anonymous or fake accounts. All social networking platforms are primarily used by businesses to promote their products and drive consumption patterns. Third party advertising on these platforms is a big money spinner.
In such times, one wonders how social networking sites can go back to doing what they were supposed to do — connect people. The world of social networking sites is constantly changing. Usage patterns have been unpredictable and the recent trial of the Facebook CEO by the US Congress has raised several eyebrows and even called for its closure.
The founder of Orkut, after his first venture was dissolved by the parent company in 2014, is in the process of launching his second venture — Hello. Hello promises to be about connecting like minded people. Hello wants to minimize the negativity by building interest-based communities where users with same interests can connect, leading to true connections. But it’s success remains to be seen.
