Why different Social Networks Co-exists?

Photo credit: http://www.butac.it/

I am not a social network guy.Just to give an example, I remember a discussion with my friends that I didn't found Facebook interesting and desired to be on some other social network once Facebook will tank like Orkut. But, these days, I am getting attracted to  many social networks. 

The discussion referred above is more than  5 years old and for all these years, I was  moderately active only on Facebook. But, since last one month, I am a more frequent visitor on Twitter, Google+, Quora, Linkedin, Blogger, etc.

I was awestruck when the Entrepreneur Magazine whom I contacted for writing guidelines, asked me about the URL of  my Twitter and Linkedin Profile but completely ignored social networks like  Facebook or Google+ with whom I was more familiar.

I have understood that different social networks are co-existing because they have different USP. My review of the prominent social networks I have used is as follows:

1. Facebook: They are the leader in terms of number of users on the site. I see Facebook as reliable and comfortable. The site is best to connect with family and friends. It is good for sharing personal photos and videos with family and  friends. Here Likes and Comments are the measure  of the success of a post.
2. Twitter: It is a marketer's paradise. I am following 140 people and some 20 people are following me. I am getting 50-60 updates in 5 minutes. So, you can imagine that huge amount of information is shared on Twitter per minute. If you are a celebrity and have followers in millions then you may be overwhelmed by the number of tweets marked to you. Good thing is that celebrities have got a taste for Twitter and you can directly see what they share with the world instantly.
3. Linkedin: This one is good for professional networking and like classical literature is not for everyone. It is only for those who want to network with other professionals. This place is not suitable for sharing photos of your last  vacation at Singapore. You can write long posts which can be read by other users who are on it's  built-in blogging platform Pulse.
4. Google+: You can easily follow or get followed by others who know you or your email id. The good thing here is that it has seamless integration with other Google products and hence can come handy.
5. Quora: Now, I am loving Quora, which is a platform where you can ask questions or give answers to other's question. This site is an advance version of Yahoo Answers. Unlike Yahoo Answers, it is very reliable as you can see the profile of all the users in quora, how many questions they have answered and the number of views and likes they got on their response. You can easily figure out the experts on Quora. Moderators ensure that only unique questions are asked and if there is any duplication, the site will offer the user a suggestion to go through the existing thread on the issue.You get up-votes for comments or questions and the site can be a replacement for Google to a certain extend.
6. Blogger: It is the closest to my heart. So, more personal views about this one. Today, a friend enquired about how can I monetize my blog. I told him that I am only concerned about putting my heart out and produce excellent articles. I have my day job  for all other things. I don't want to earn money from blogging , at least  as of now. I want to keep believing that whatever I am writing now can also  touch someone's life many years down the line. I am getting more expose and audience on Quora. But, I can't ignore Blogger as it's like my home whereas hosting a blog at quora has certain restrictions and that will always be like a rented house.

BY- Rohan Sinha