The Social Networking

Question: Social media has become a ubiquitous part of the internet. Since Facebook started in Harvard University in 2004, social networking continues to grow hugely and was used by nearly two billion people in 2014 (eMarketer, Worldwide Social Network Users: 2013 Forecast and Comparative Estimates). In report format, you are required to research, review and compare the following social networking sites: Facebook Ello Experience Project Analyse the type of site, its focus, relevant technical features, audiences, and effectiveness as well as any advantages, disadvantages (e.g. technical or ethical), similarities, and differences between the platforms that you are able to identify. Use referenced case studies to support your arguments. Answer: Introduction The social networking sites in today's world are becoming the greatest media of communication, advertising, and marketing of several products for the individuals as well as companies. About 60 million peoples use the social media sites every day. In the social networking sites, people can share photos and videos, make discussions in groups, play games and can also get the information of several products of different brands (Barden, 2012). In this particular assignment, the discussion is done in the case of explaining the types, features and audiences of the social networking sites such as Facebook, Ello and Experience project. The advantages and disadvantages of these social sites are also given in this report. A comparison is also provided to understand the similarities and differences between the platforms. Facebook Facebook is the most usage social networking sites and has about millions of customers throughout the world. The users of Facebook are not only the general people but also several big organizations. People can share photos, videos and audios along with their friend and families in facebook and also can use it to bring entertainment in their life. Large organizations used Facebook in case of advertising and increasing their popularity throughout the world and receive several new customers (Cullen and Cobb, 2011). The main focus of Facebook is to provide all the facilities regarding entertainment, communications, sharing, playing games and other necessary requirements of their customers. There are several applications of Facebook which can install in every Smartphone in case of making its usage more easily. The case study of Nescafe explains the best usage of Facebook social networking sites to sell their products and to make more customers all over the world. Nescafe made several challenges to their Facebook users and other social media friends in case of providing coffee (Epperson, 2010). A test is implemented by Nescafe using the Facebook users that one can surprise their relatives, friends, etc. with a two cup of coffee and make a better relation to them (Davies, 2012). This experiment is for two month period. One of the users named Arnaud first started this experience and had uploaded about 42 videos that have created more interest to other customers and in few days, the experiment become famous throughout the world. In the result of this, the Nescafe Facebook fans had increased to 400%. For this particular case study, Facebook plays the main role, and it allows several audiences of the brands to follow this experiences. Advantages Uploading facilities for photos, videos, audios, blogs and any other things that the users like to upload. The best communication system provides to the users using which they can communicate with their families, friends and relatives throughout the whole world. Several apps are present which the users can install in Smartphone to make it user-friendly. There is a system of notification that user can get while offline also. Disadvantages Misuse of any post can be done by any users. The bad post can ruin the user's life. All the information of the users can be acquired from their profile by hacking. Ello In the land of social networking, Ello is new to the customers. It is a beautiful social networking site where the users can connect to their friends and families and also can share what most matters to them. It also provides a full-screen design and the best quality images and videos with the name given by the users. The promises are made by Ello that it becomes different from the Facebook. There can be sold off the likes that are created regarding the products to the advertisers. There are several claims that are regarding to other social networking sites that the posts, shares and links that are made by the users of the other social networking sites are tracked and recorded by the advertising companies and are translated to create more advertisements (Eynon, 2014). It means that the users are the products that are used by the organizations to make their advertisements not as the customers. But Ello is something new than the other sites. The claims that Ello do is that it will prov ide ad-free service and the data of the users are not sell to the advertisers. On the other hand, they tried to create some new features to attract more customers. Ello also tried to admire that they will share the observations of the comedians on the internet at a cheaper rate (Gonzales, 2013). In case of doing this Ello created a spoof called Cody. Cody can be defined as the game changer in the future level of social networking that provides a better social experience for their customers. Also, if the users don't have any friends, Owdy will help to become the friend of you. Advantages Users can control what they want to see, it is not required to see unnecessary ads. Service will be ad-free User's data are not sold to the advertisers. High-res images Long form text Disadvantages Services provided to the users are not so good as the Facebook Experience Project In 2006, the Experience Project was launched and being inspired by MS support group through online. It is a free social networking site that the help the people to be a member and can post stories, photos, videos and blogs on the sites (Hart, 2012). It also can be said as an online community. The focus of this site is not on the full topic, most of the time the discussion is done on the basis of single part of the whole topic and all the information and the experiences are provided regarding that part. Something wrong is happening in doing this. It can be said that from the true selves, the labels are more flattered. The work of the Experience Project is done by using a story regarding the uploaded photos that can be done only by the chosen categories (Warhol, 2014). Also, there are several groups in each of the categories. In Facebook as we click a button "Like", here we click a button called "Me Too" Here the title of all the groups is with the first name of the people. Hence, it is required to be careful for the member before clicking the "Me Too". The customers of the Experience Project do not like the site very much. The membership of the Experience Project is pathbreaking due to its stupidity, and also it reduces the popularity of the site (Jackson, 2012). Advantages People with experiences can automatically be a member of the community. A big group can be created regarding the categories Each category has several groups Disadvantages It is required to be sure to get added to a group otherwise it will be difficult to exit from the group. Very low popularity. There are several restrictions in case of policing the content of the users. Comparison The comparison regarding the above discussed three social networking sites such as Facebook, Ello and Experience Project can be done using several issues that have been discussed in the assignment (Kemp, 2011). Among the three sites, the best is the Facebook. Its popularity is increasing day-by-day throughout the whole world. It can be said that the Facebook has covered all other social networking sites using its popularity. Ello is new in the social networking market. It claims to provide best services than Facebook along with ad-free and best communication system. As the customers of the Facebook like the advertiser used the data that are uploaded by the users as a raw material to create more advertisement, Ello assure that they will provide ad-free services and do not use the data to the users as the raw material of the advertiser (Piltz, 2011). Whereas Experience Project is the social networking site that that is not becoming much popular to their users. In any other sites, the c onnections are made on the basis of the known people but in the Experience Project, connections are made on the basis of the experiences that the people had (Surma, 2015). Its functionality is very limited which decrease the interest of the customers. These experiences are categorized into several groups. The people can be the member of any of the group regarding their experiences. Conclusion The social networking sites that are discussed in the above assignment are used to communicate with several people in the world. Facebook is the best social networking site that provides every facility to all the users. As discussed in the given case study, we can say that Facebook not only help the people in making friends, it also helps the organizations to collects data for their advertisement. Ello is the new launched social networking site that provides their services along with the ad-free facility that help the user to control what they want to see. The Experience Project is a social networking site that helps the people to be the member of the category in which they are experienced.