TechTalk: Exploring the social networking undergrowth

If you’re a keen follower of this blog (which I somehow doubt), you’ll know that it’s my (frankly, rather pathetic) attempt to cobble all of the things that I’m passionate about into one place, whilst earning a few pennies on the side (yup, those ads, unfortunately, aren’t decorative). Recently, though, you’ll have noticed that I’ve put several joules of energy into writing about social networks, be it Myspace, or Facebook. While one’s dead, and the other’s continuously adapting to make sure it survives against a challenge from Google+ or Twitter, it got me thinking: are there any more social networking sites out there?

Of course there are. To use a metaphor: just because Coca Cola and Pepsi are market leaders in the cola or (at the risk of sounding terribly unfashionable) “fizzy pop” it doesn’t mean that a person can’t choose to drink one of the smaller brands. Of course, there’s Tesco cola, Sainsbury’s Cola, and (if you truly want to slum it and risk several forms of infection) Lidl Cola. In the same light, there are some social networking minnows out there, some with some truly fantastic ideas, and others which, unfortunately, will probably cause the same effect as the Lidl Cola- but mentally, of course. Here, then, is my guide to three social networks that you might just’ve missed out on…

1. MyYearbook.com

We all remember Myspace, and we’re all familiar users of Facebook and Twitter. However, what would you think of if I asked you to picture a social network that looked to be the baby bastardisation of all of them?

MyYearbook looks pretty damn close to that image. It seems to have combined the “like”, “comments”, and overall blue-tinged colour scheme from Facebook, and the character limit from Twitter (which actually is rather infuriating on this site). This particular site, though, unfortunately, bears an overwhelming resemblance to Myspace. The “myspace whores” have returned, and they’ve struck this site with a vengeance. While I’m sure that most of the people on the site mean well, many of them struggle to type simple sentences correctly, and it’s jam-packed full of annoying guys asking lewd, rude, and downright nasty questions to girls who, it seems, can’t figure out how to put their ample cleavage away. Add to that the plethora of dating games, and an incredibly bad user experience and you’ve got yourself a truly shocking result.

If you’re into blurry pictures of girls in bikinis and can be bothered to learn a whole new version of chatspeak (where, it seems, users have attempted to type words with their foreheads and knees simultaneously), then this could just be a hit with you. I wouldn’t bet on it, though.

2. Yuwie.com

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Yuwie has been put up for sale. Going to the site will only, unfortunately, show you the site’s logo, and tell you that the asking price is $15,000. So, then, it’s up to me to give you the premise of the site.

Yuwie seemed to be too good to be true, when I had first heard of it about four to five years ago. Basically it was a site that (and you can re-read this slowly, if it doesn’t click the first time) PAID people to social network. I, obviously, being a sucker for a quid or two (may I remind you again of the ads?), joined up.

The site itself was, unfortunately, miserable. While the user experience wasn’t that bad, the place was deserted. I had convinced a (now ex-) girlfriend to sign up so we could raise a bit of dough together, and other than each other, it seemed like the place was emptier than the inside of Jodie Marsh’s brain. Of course, while getting paid to talk to people was a very attractive proposition, the fact that it was based on ad-revenue probably caused several would-be users to return to the book o’ face. And I don’t blame them- I checked my earnings from the site last year, and I had made barely a penny.

I’d be lying if I said that I missed the site and its red colour scheme, but being paid to network is still a rather attractive proposition, not just to me- but also many others. So watch this space and see if Yuwie ever returns.

3. Dailystrength.org

I can’t help but feel that, at this stage, I’ve been overly negative in my reviews of these plutoed social networks. So here, then is my good deed and positive part of this post, and it comes in the form of dailystrength. I was debating about putting this in because I wasn’t sure about whether it was classed as a forum or a social network. It is, in essence, a site where people can receive crowdsourced help for their problems, whether they’re psychological or physiological, via online support groups. Think of it as a Yahoo!Answers site for almost every ailment you could think of.

The people seem to be incredibly supportive and keen to help, and if you’re in need of some support from experienced people, this is probably one of the best places to go on the internet.

Obviously, these sites will probably never threaten the dominance of the “big three” of social networking. But if you’re looking for a bit of a change, and don’t mind learning new interfaces and enjoying (or, indeed suffering) the company of new people, these could just provide some boredom killers for your time on the internet.

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TechTalk: Social not-working: Facebook’s numerous GUIses

Like a group of teenagers with their fads, or a woman with her clothes, social networking giant Facebook has suddenly changed again. If Mark Zuckerberg hadn’t asked his loyal and numerous users to master enough user interfaces already, another one has come along to baffle them and question why they use the site.

We were all used to the Facebook of yore. It had a nice and uncluttered interface, and only had one news feed on the homepage. Now, all [or, as I have found, most] of the users have an extra, mini “news ticker” on the side of their main feed that displays all of your friend’s actions as they do them. Several friends of mine have preferred to call this a “mini-feed”, but I just think it’s an item that can cause more privacy invasions in 10 minutes than a Murdoch journalist can pull off in an entire year. Give it a few days, and this fast-flowing friend feed will be able to publish your visits to the loo- and not only in quantity and length, but probably in consistency and quality, too. For me, this little news feed is a terrifying thing, and could just be a change too far.

Change, in general, though, is a much needed thing in social networking. Much like animals and humans, social networks must compete and adapt to survive and thrive. Both Facebook and Twitter have applied several tweaks to their sites recently, both to improve the user experience and also provide extra revenue, as (and let us not forget) social networks are businesses after all. When social networking sites don’t change, they quickly fade away into the pages of our mind. There was a time when Myspace was the social networking king, and had over 100 million accounts. However, it didn’t change much to the eye; and both the “myspace whores” and casual users posted their last bulletins and picture comments, and left quietly through the back door. Now its disgraced name rests in the same pit as the other casualties: Bebo and Hi5, and is now the realm of indie-kids and retro-geeks.

There is no doubt that Facebook’s constant changes seem to be more applicable to the song “Hot 'n’Cold” by Katy Perry than they are to any viable business strategy. These changes aren’t exactly being loved by users, either. A friend of mine, with a string of non-repeatable words, told me of her disgust for the new site, and the disapproval of the users was even covered by international news network CNN. This isn’t the first time that users have verbally rebelled over changes to the site, and you can count on the fact that it won’t be the last. While some of these changes are incredibly infuriating, Facebook is still the free and convenient way to get hold of all my friends- especially when I, a poor, struggling student, can hardly afford to top up my phone. So for now, Facebook has won this battle- but if they keep ringing these changes, I’m hoping that they’ll lose the war.

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TechTalk: I'm a real twit for a tweet or two

What is Twitter?

Launched in 2006 as FriendStalker, twitter has changed the internet, and the various types of communication and microblogging that exist. Celebrities like Stephen Fry, Pete Wentz, and Ashton Kutcher have since created a bandwagon, and where you used to hear "What's twitter!?" after you've brought it up, you now hear "YEAH, @REPLY ME!!!!"
Twitter is essentially a microblogging platform. You're given 140 characters in which to say whatever you like. The site provides "what are you doing?" as a muse for your "tweets", but you really don't need to stick to that. If people like the content you post, they'll "follow" you, and your posts will appear on their homepage. And the same goes for you- if you feel like keeping up to date with someone, you click their "follow" button, and whenever they tweet, you'll know about it!

Why Tweet?

Now that twitter is being used by anyone and everyone [even broadcasting companies are reaping the rewards from this 140 character goldmine], and the term is being bandied about, it's understandable for you to think: "Why should I join twitter!?!?!?"
Now, like all things in life, it's not for everyone. Some, like me, find it terribly addictive. I joined in December, and I've already tweeted 8,643 times [needless to say that it'll go up by the time I've finished typing this review]. Others, however, don't like twitter. They'll tweet 3 times, and then leave.
Now, as I said, the site asks you "What are you doing?" as a bit of a muse to tweet, but again, you don't need to adhere to this. I've had brilliant conversations with various other tweeters about music, governments, love, and other topics.
Let your mind run free! You can tweet about what you want, and if your content is good enough, you'll pick up a few followers along the way!
You even have the chance to talk to various REAL celebrities, too. I've talked to Joe Trohman [Fall Out Boy], Andy Hurley [Fall Out Boy], and Jason Manford [comedian] among others, and these are all REAL accounts. Of course, you can get the occasional faker, but Twitter has started to implement a scheme whereby real celebrities' accounts are marked.

Why Follow?

The great thing about twitter, as with all user generated content that appears nowadays, is that you can choose what you want to see. If you find someone's tweets amusing, helpful, or just generally good, you can follow them. If you find that this persons content becomes extremely bad, you can unfollow them. Meaning that you control the content you view, and you can choose the type of tweets you see- it's all in YOUR control.
If you find someone's a star tweeter, you can participate in followfriday, where, every friday [as you may have guessed], people recommend great tweeters and great content that really should be followed.

Security

As with any social networking site, there needs to be an element of security involved. And, luckily, there is. Twitter has a block button, so if you're followed by spammers, scammers, or general bad eggs, you can block these people, and they can hassle you no more!
The whole site operates via usernames, too. So if you're uncomfortable with people knowing your name, don't worry- people will just address you by your twitter counterpart.

Design

The design of the site is pretty simple. It's just basically a textbox, a submit button, a few internal links, and then a bar down the side that shows your statistics, and the trending topics. The site's very quick to load, and you can customise your own background to your particular taste, be it a pattern, a logo, or a picture of your dazzling smile.
There have been various recent updates to the site, and it has been a little slow to load recently- but there's nothing a twitter client can't fix!

Offshoots

There have been various offshoots made to twitter to add extra entertainment. There are "twibes" that you can join, to show you're part of a particular community, there are quizzes that you play, where results are published to your twitter account, and there's even a twitter spy-game [which reminds me - if anyone asks, you haven't seen me, capiche!? ;) ]

Portability

There are twitter clients for every device imaginable, so you can tweet from whenever, WHEREVER. Not only are there clients for PCs and Macs, but they exist for iPhones, Blackberries, Windows Mobile Phones, Symbian Mobile Phones, Nintendo DS, and even a client for World of Warcraft is rumoured.
This means that you can send a message to the world from wherever you are, as long as you have an internet connection [be it wi-fi, gprs, or usual wired broadband]

Overall

Twitter is a very, VERY addictive website. I've made friends, had great conversations, chatted to celebrities, and even become a bit of a news statistic. I prefer it to various other social networks like facebook, myspace, and even instant messengers like MSN.
Okay, the 140 character limit CAN be a bit of a drag- but it's also very fun, and if you stick with it, you'll get some great results!

Rating

9/10

Follow me! 

@RaviAmruth

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