Who Is Number 1? Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn

Today’s post is a guest post by MadMan, the founder and author of madTREEHOUSE. Enjoy the post and be sure to follow him on Twitter @madthouse and visit his Facebook Page.

Hello FiveFreeApps!

My name is Mad Man from madTREEHOUSE.com. This is my first post on FiveFreeApps and I’m excited to share my topic with you. Also, you better like it or you might make me mad! Lol.

I did a previous post on madTREEHOUSE about these 4 social networks – facebook, twitter, linkedin, and myspace called “The Social Network Craziness.”  Here’s the link if you want to check it out: http://madtreehouse.com/?p=1833.

Even though, I did touch on it a little bit and posted a poll on the home page (hint); I thought that I needed to touch on it a little more with regards to which is really the best social network out there.  I don’t really hear and see in studies on this issue.  Is facebook the best because they have hundreds of millions of members?  Is twitter the best because more celebs use it?  I asked the general public and the madTREEHOUSE club to assist me with their vote, so we can have some conclusion on the matter. We had a little bit of participation, which I’m grateful for but didn’t receive enough to make a final decision in this social network hierarchy.  So, I’m going to expand on this topic, define & rank them. The poll is at the bottom for you to submit your vote and comments. It’s easy to say facebook with the 9 digits in users/members on there, but that doesn’t mean they are the best social network out there. Let me explain further. I’m not going to use stats because like Tampa Bay Buccaneer Head Coach Raheem Morris said, “Stats are for losers.”  Each social network serves a specific purpose and the number of users one has over the other has no value in this argument. That will be like saying the Yankees are the best team every year because they have the largest and biggest payroll. I want to judge this competition on the merit of ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ with the opinion of the general public. So, let’s get into this argument!

facebook – Is a social network that allows you to communicate and share content with your network of friends.

Likes – It’s a personal assistant for keeping up with friends and what is going on at the moment. It allows you updates on birthdays, events, status, likes, and etc. of all your network of friends. I can see uploaded photos, comments, and who’s online. If you’re a business, business person, or activist, then facebook has a great community fan page that you can create. You see a lot of businesses incorporating this into their marketing strategy only because of the popularity of facebook and the number of members (friends) they have.

Dislikes – It’s not the place to network or get to know anyone new.  It’s not inviting in that way. There are unwritten rules & bylaws that you must know someone personally in order to be friends with them on facebook. Its overall appeal is to be the gateway in privacy of friends where certain country clubs are forbidden. They blast you with ads on the right side of the page from information that you and your friends submit on your facebook page. They use that information to sell to advertisers to spam you on your page. It’s a parasite and host relationship. Most people don’t mind because they use it for only one purpose, which is to connect with their personal circle and the spam doesn’t interfere with their enjoyment of the site or go to them directly. facebook is always doing updates to your page which becomes frustrating with a ‘new facebook page upgrade’ all the time!

Census - facebook is great if you already have your set of friends or personal circle. If you’re looking to network or make new friends, then it’s not the best recommended place for you. If you want a personal assistant to go with your friendship(s), then facebook is an excellent social network for you to use. For businesses or any other personal endeavors, facebook gets a grade of okay. It does a great job of collecting information from its millions of friends and give an advertiser the ability to pinpoint its target down to the teeth. But it’s original design is to be a fraternity/sorority house for friends of friends to communicate throughout the day.

twitter – Is a social network that allows you to text message updates to your loyalists of followers in the form of tweets. I know that twitter has expanded to twit pics and videos, but it’s primarily used for text message updates. twitter is hugely popular with celebs because they can easily engage, promote, and keep in touch with their fans and followers. It’s easy or easier to be associated with someone on twitter as oppose to facebook and linkedin because the restrictions are softer. It’s meant for you to follow or unfollow someone by choice and network with anyone with a twitter account.

Likes – It’s easier to follow or be friends with anybody who has a twitter account. It’s much more inviting and networking is more acceptable. You can tweet (text message) to promote, network, engage, and etc. with an audience and its encouraged to do so as oppose to do with your facebook friends. facebook people act like sharing or promoting something is taboo and frown upon.  They almost make it seem like you are saling something to them or spamming them personally. I guess it’s just better to tell the world that I just got out of the shower like anyone cares or do they? Lastly, they don’t spam you with advertisers from your personal info like facebook.

Dislikes - People will follow you one minute and not the next. It’s seems like it’s more about a race to get the most people to follow you instead of just connecting with people. At least on the other social networks, when you get a new friend – that person is part of your network and doesn’t unfriend you the next minute.  You don’t know how many times that has happen to me. On facebook, when I get a friend request notification I’ll accept it or deny it and that’s it. There’s no “GOTCHA!” or “so-&-so uses a validation service.” Like who the hell are you!  Thank Gosh! Jesus doesn’t use twitter! Personally, I don’t care for it. It’s a popularity & bragging contest of who has the most followers and no I’m not jealous because I don’t have over a thousand followers on my twitter. Furthermore, I don’t care if you tweeted how fun it was to shop today or I went outside and came back in.

Census - If you love gossip or want to keep up with the latest from somebody or something, then twitter is for you. Yes, facebook, linkedin, myspace, and etc. all have their own tweeter like functionality but remember that I said you have to be a part of the familia or country club. And I’m not talking about only having a membership account. You have to be inside the circle of friends to get those tweets. That’s why you never see any media outlets refer any other social networks tweets besides twitter.

Myspace – Is a social network site that known more for entertainment purposes. It does have the same functions that twitter & facebook have, but is less popular in those areas because of its appeal in the entertainment (music, movies, and etc) genre.  You can upload media, photos, updates, and etc. There is custom stuff you can do with your page and you can add a music playlist to your Myspace page. Sometimes you can have too much of a good-time thing and this is the reason it is not as popular as it was before. With all the numerous social networks out there, being specialized and a niche-filler makes you popular these days such as facebook, twitter, and linkedin has done. All of these social network are known to the public in one main area. Twitter is known for tweets, linkedin is known for professional networking, and facebook is known for friends-only communication. Myspace was known for all of this, but lost members due to this.  Most older people are conservative and don’t appeal to the same stuff that young people do like having loud music playing every time you go to my Myspace page.  Those older people don’t have patience and they want something that is simple and easy for them to use. Also, by having and being known for one main functionality, it makes it clearer and less confusing to a new prospector or seeker who rather have something simple to go to and use.  I believe that Myspace has now found its niche in the field of entertainment. This allows them to compete with the other social networks and appeal to a young demographic and audience.

Likes – If you like something that has a lot going on or a lot of flavor and is hip, then Myspace is your thing. You can add or embed a music playlist or a video on your profile page and you have more options with customizing your page. It has all the same features and specs as the other popular social networks (facebook, twitter, and linkedin).  They have even allowed you to incorporate twitter and facebook features into your Myspace. It’s pretty much everything under one roof.

Dislikes – Unfortunately, being the Wal-mart of the social network industry makes you not as popular as you would think. For example, It’s like when you are saling a house. What is one of the most important deal-breakers that can happen?  Yes, having too much going on. Any real-estate expert will advise you to keep your place neutral because that’s what appeals to the majority of people. Can that buyer change the color of that one room’s wall to white or whatever color that they like?!  Yes, they could easily do that but people are what they are and the customer is always right.  All the cool features and specs can get annoying after some time and you have to keep getting my attention when you want to entertain me.

Linkedin - Is a social network that allows you to network with other professional friends and colleagues. It operates very similar to facebook in establishing a network of friends. This means you have to know the person you want to add to your network and that person has to accept you. I’ve always said that high school is the best proven-ground and education in a person’s life because it teaches you how the world operates. It’s similar to how networking works in the real world.  In order to get in with certain people, you have to have a relationship with so-&-so to get in so-&-so’s network or circle.

Likes – It’s a resume of yourself on a Careerbuilder like formality. People are involved in professional networking and professional advertisement of their experience, skill set, current/previous occupations, and etc. You can reach decision-makers or hiring folks directly (if you are able to get within their network).

Dislikes – It only appeals to one thing and one thing only; professional networking. Linkedin restricts you from networking or reaching people you don’t know but want to know and it’s a tougher process than facebook in that regard. Personally, I only go on there only when I need to go on there such as a person would do with Careerbuilder.

Census – If you’re looking to network for a job or with a certain professional, then Linkedin is for you. You can connect with colleagues in a facebook-type format.  If Careerbuilder added the facebook-type format tomorrow, then Linkedin would be out of business.

Results

Now, that we have talked about each of these social networks enough, it’s time to rank them and crown which is #1.  I told you that I’m letting you (the general public) do that.  I’ve included a poll at the bottom for your personal vote. Here is my conclusion of who is the best social network site:

Best Features & Overall – Goes to Myspace.

Most Popular – Goes to facebook.

Best Social Network Functionality – Goes to twitter

MadMan is the founder and author of madTREEHOUSE. Follow him on Twitter @madthouse and be sure to visit his Facebook Page.

(polls)

Which One of These is the Best Social Networking Site to You?
(polls)