Check Out Social Networking Sites

Social Networking has become a phenomenon that has missed very few people. Everyone I know is on one social networking site or another. From Facebook, to Myspace, to LinkedIn, even my mother has an account on at least 2 of them. For many people it started with Friendster. As the first glimpse into social networking for many people Friendster provided an opportunity for people to connect online, post pictures, leave comments, and do all the usual things you can on any social networking site.

These days Friendster appears to be nothing more than a dead framework for what once was a social networking site. My time on the site recently yielded nothing more than deleted profiles, empty profiles, or spam profiles. Not much there.

Next came MySpace. MySpace aloud for more creativity with the ability to create custom profiles, upload music, and pretty much do whatever you wanted to your page. As MySpace exploded everyone under the age of 30 seemed to have one, but just as quickly as it came up, it was all but destroyed by Facebook. These days MySpace seams like a post-apocalyptic burying ground where few profiles are still active, and the rest are just littered with spam and abandonment.

Facebook provides a much cleaner feeling, without crazy colors, loud music, and annoying pictures that overtake a MySpace profile. Facebook provides a clean and productive network with many features as well as security which doesn't allow anyone who isn't in your network to see your information. Still the number one choice for social networking it seams like Facebook will remain the most popular until something new comes along.

Finally, there are alternative social networking sites that are created for specific reasons. LinkedIn for example is a site for professionals. Those looking to network with colleagues past and present join LinkedIn and ask for recommendations and references. Seeing as building your professional network is vital to success, LinkedIn can be a very important too for your career.