Top 10 Social Media Sites: The Best of Social Media

Social networking is an exciting new phenomenon that is taking the world by storm. With new social media sites springing up all the time, it can be tricky to know which sites are the most worthy of your time. One way to rank sites is to compare the number of registered users that each site has. Here are the top ten social media sites of 2013:

1. Facebook

With nearly a billion registered users, Facebook is the world’s favorite social media site. Users share photos, update their friends about what is going on in their lives, and create highly personalized profiles. Every user’s homepage shows a timeline of top news stories from their friends. Recently, Facebook has made several changes to make the platform more attractive to businesses, including introducing targeted advertising in News Feeds, and encouraging users to Like their favorite brands.
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2. Twitter

Twitter’s minimalist style and ease of use makes it incredibly popular among internet users. Launched in 2006, Twitter has quickly grown to dominate the online conversation. In 2012, an estimated 140 million tweets were sent every day. Twitter can be extremely useful for business promotion, as hashtags can be used to broadcast content to millions of interested users. To learn more about using Twitter for business success, check out this Twitter for Business online course.

3. Google Plus

Google+ has more than 400 million registered users, largely thanks to its integration with other Google services such as Google Mail. At least 100 million of these users actively use the service, using the +1 button to recommend the best pages on the Web to their friends and colleagues. Bloggers should pay particular attention to Google+ as the Google Authorship service can protect their content from copycats and increase their visibility.

4. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the social media site for professionals and businesses. Profile pages act as online resumes, showcasing each user’s education, skills, creative portfolios, and career history. Users can endorse their connections for various professional skills, and be endorsed in turn.
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5. Bebo

Once one of the top social media sites on the Web, Bebo has dropped to number five, having been usurped by Facebook. However, it still has well over 100 million registered users. Time will tell whether Bebo can reinvent itself, or whether it will continue to fall down the list of top social media sites.

6. Tagged

Tagged is a global social media site, with a particularly strong user base among teens. The site allows users to play games and find new friends online. Tagged has over 100 million registered users and is reported to be generating strong profits.

7. Instagram

Instagram is a rising star in the world of social media. It provides an easy way for smartphone users to create and share stylish photos with their friends on Facebook and other social networking sites. In less than three years, Instagram has persuaded over 100 million people to sign up to its service.

8. DeviantART

DeviantART is the most popular social site for artists. It provides a platform for aspiring artists to share their work. DeviantART has enjoyed strong popularity for more than ten years. It has a loyal user base, with 65 million unique visitors to the site every month.

9. Pinterest

Pinterest is a highly visual social media site. Users create pinboards to showcase their favorite fashions, recipes, or home design ideas. Pinterest is often used by people who are planning a big event, such as a wedding or home renovation.

10. FourSquare

Foursquare encourages mobile users to share their geographical location with their friends. They can therefore see who is nearby, and get recommendations for nearby places to visit. Foursquare is an incredibly useful tool for local businesses, as you will see in this free Introduction to Foursquare for Business.
What is your favorite social media site? Post a comment below to let us know!