CNIT 129-831 Fall 2014
HW #8 Comparing Social Networking Sites.
Comparing Facebook, Linkedin and Google+
I use all three social networking sites very differently. I have had both my Facebook and Linkedin accounts since 2007. Google+ was more recent account registered in 2011. Why I signed up for each of the sites explains the main objectives that these Social Networking sites present.
When I signed up for Facebook, I treated it as an upgrade to my MySpace account and because of the school and university connections it was a better version of Classmates.com. I use my pseudonym and I have 500+ friends.
I always post and “like” interesting news articles on Facebook. I am a member of some of the entertainment, San Francisco-related and fun groups I can join. I belong to my alumni groups and we share information about school reunions and alumni events. I have many photos and photo albums on Facebook. I share photos with my relatives and past schoolmates. Facebook was such an improvement on MySpace’s platform. A user had many more options and opportunities to share and acquire data on Facebook.
I have high privacy settings on Facebook. I don’t want my profile to be searchable or for any and everybody to see. I also don’t want anyone to be able to post on my page or lift my content. The problems I have with Facebook are the creepy advertising that shows up in my sidebar, as the result of the site tracking me over the web.
When I joined Linkedin it was with the sole intention of finding employment as a researcher and expanding my information retrieval and research business. I come from a background of using job centers and career counselors and when those places became scarce I treated LinkedIn like an online version of the job boards and binders. This social networking site is for professional and business oriented networking.
I made sure my privacy settings made me searchable. I used my legal name and established a business name. I printed business cards with a link to my LinkedIn profile My Linkedin profile is an extension of my resume. I am not limited to how many pages a resume should be. The more information the better. I have included work experience, educational background, specific courses taken. I had to harangue friends and past co-workers to write recommendations about my skills. I worked very hard to get the over 300+ contacts I have. I was very happy to have professors from Graduate school and my previous co-workers included. I have always felt who my contacts are gives my profile credibility. I like the endorsements for a person's skills users can give. I also taught myself by reading articles and tips how to build a stronger profile. I knew to add target keywords and tailor my career data to the online environment. The professional and industry groups I belong to are important. I make sure that the organizations badge is on my profile. LinkedIn changed their interface and added the ability for users to add even more content. Users can add Blog posts, Twitter posts. I have posted employment related news articles on LinkedIn.
Google+
As for Google+ I do not use it as much. My privacy settings are high. I do have an account but I neglect it. I had a Google Orkut account their original Social Networking site for a few years. I made sure I got a Google+ account to secure my Web 2.0 Real Estate. I have my Circles of Friends, Family Followers and Acquaintances. I try to post photos and interesting news articles. I don’t really like the interface. I do want to try Google Hangouts free Videoconferencing / Webcasting for once. I used to use other services like Netcasting, Yahoo Broadband back in the day, Pre-Skype. I use other separate Google products like Google Voice or Chat via my email, that it slows me down to go into Google+.