According to an April 2009 Nonprofit Social Network Survey Report sponsored by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), the following describes the Top 5 commercial social networks that NGOs use.
1. Facebook: Facebook was created in 2004 and is the most popular of the commercial networks by far, with 74.0% of nonprofits indicating that they use this social networking site. Facebook, Inc. privately owns it and people join networks organized by city, school, and region in order to interact with other members. People can add friends on Facebook, send messages, and post pictures. Originally open only to university and college students, it now allows free access to anyone 13 and older and currently has more than 200 million active users worldwide.2. YouTube: Of the 980 nonprofits surveyed, 46.5% use YouTube for social networking. It is a video sharing website created in 2005 where users can upload, share videos, and view them. In 2006 it was bought by Google and now operates as a subsidiary of the company. Unregistered users can watch any of the posted videos, while registered users are allowed to upload an unlimited number. Registered users’ accounts are called channels.
3. Twitter: This site is a close third as 43.3% of nonprofits indicated they use Twitter. Twitter, created in 2006, is a social networking and blogging site that permits users to send and read other users’ updates, which are called tweets. Tweets are posts, no more than 140 words or less, that consist of status reports. Last year, Twitter had about two million users; this year the number has skyrocketed to 32 million users.
4. LinkedIn: Unlike the other popular social networking sites, LinkedIn focuses on creating and keeping professional contacts. According to the survey, 32.9% of nonprofits use this site. LinkedIn was launched in 2003 and allows users to search for jobs, has resources for hiring employees, and even has a category dedicated to nonprofits. It spans about 170 industries and has more than 40 million users.
5. MySpace: Of the surveyed nonprofits, 26.1% have a network on MySpace. Created in 2003, the website is very interactive, allowing users to create a network of friends, profiles, blogs, groups, music, pictures, and video. In 2006 it was the most popular networking site in the United States but was internationally overtaken by Facebook, its main competitor, in 2008.
Ref: http://www.wango.org/upload2009/OnlineSocialNetworking.pdf
Many social networks feature asynchronous functions. Some think that this type of communication does not support social interaction. Now it is not. I think current social networks prove clearly that people still have strong relationship through these asynchronous type social networks.
ReplyDeleteBoth asynchronous and synchronous communications have their roles to play in Social Networkings. Though Blackboard is not in the top 5 social networks, this asychronous communication tool is widely used in the field of education. Sometimes it's called WebCT. When I first implemented SWIS (School Webbase Information System)in Assumption College I was thinking of developing it into Blackboard system.
ReplyDeleteToday I listened to the radio news about social network.They said that there are criminal,so please becareful to accept other people in this social and also please let our students know about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's true! There are pros and cons when using social networks (SN). Security in involving with social networking is a big concern. Thank Tah Tah for raising this issue! Our students or children should be guided when involving in social networks. We should be positive to SN but at the same time should be wise enough to protect ourselves.
ReplyDeleteNew kinds of social network have emerged nowadays. The new one is used to substitute the old ones. For example, Facebook is now popular to use than Hi5 that was very popular to use in Asia few years ago. Moreover, some kinds of social network is popular to use in some countries. For instance, Friendster is very popular in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteYes, time changes, new social networking tools emerge. Facebook started in 2004 and now it's the most popular CN. I am curiuos to know how other coming tools will look like.
ReplyDeleteI think with more access to smart phones we are going to see more networks like 4sqaure, networks that involve games into the way we live. I look forward to more networks like 4square in the future
ReplyDeleteThanks you for sharing Aiabramo! Pocket pc and smart phone are another factors for development of SN tools which are more compact and easy to operated by portable devices.
ReplyDeleteWays to Build Your Followings in the Top Social Networks
ReplyDeletehttp://gigaom.com/collaboration/5-ways-to-build-your-followings-in-the-top-social-networks/
I think students know a lot on this subject and can teach teachers
I agree with Natee. So hard to keep up with all the new ones because you get used to one and then all people go use another
ReplyDelete