Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Social Networking

Some people use social networking sites for meeting new friends on the internet. Others use them to find old friends; and there are those who use it to find people who have the same problems or interests they have. This is called 'niche networking'.

Niche networking sites are specialized groups of social networking sites. There are niche networking sites for people who want to learn a language or for people who want to control their finances or for all anime fans. There can be niche networking sites on all sorts of topics: friendship, community, a sense of belonging, online help with math problems or information on a condition you may have; people who like the same interests as you, or listen to the same music you listen to; a place to add your photos, let people view your videos and listen to your favorite songs.

Social networking sites have received a lot of attention from the nonprofit world because they align with nonprofits' desire to reach out to larger communities. For example, if your local animal shelter could tap into a network of cat lovers in your area, the logic is, wouldn't that allow it to find homes for more pets?

Marketers are also provided with information about users' interests and buying habits as related to their network of choice. They have a detailed look at the profiles and habits of social networking users on the web today, that makes them easier to study users' web usage and use these promote products efficiently.

1 comment:

  1. Niche networking, I never thought about that. I am not sure if forums count as new media, but I always go to forums for my niches. I haven't had any luck with niche social networking sites.

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