Social networking sites have undoubtedly taken the world by storm recently. However with all of the networks out there, how do you know which one to choose? Well, it wasn’t easy but I think I may have found the answer. I’ve tried nearly every networking site on the market and recently I decided to narrow my participation to just three sites. Now I’m sure the questions on your mind are… Which sites did you choose and why? Well, after much debate and deliberation my choices are Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. These aren’t merely random choices, I have reasoning behind keeping each one of these sites. Let’s take a look at those reasons now

1. Facebook

Facebook is arguably the most popular of the social networking sites amongst people in my social community. I primarily use Facebook as a way of keeping up with friends, organizing events, and also as promoting myself. Facebook is my primary “social” site, meaning that I use it mostly for social purposes. The great thing about Facebook is that EVERYONE is using it, so it’s always easy to find someone and get in contact with them. The site has great search features which allow you to reconnect with people from your past as well.

I’ve also used this site to organize events for clubs and groups that I am a part of. Facebook allows you to bulk invite, update, and message attendees of your events and can easily be used as the RSVP center of your next big party! My last use for Facebook is shameless self-promotion. I post links, videos, articles, and pretty much anything else I can think of to my “Posted Items” feed which is then embedded into my profile and also appears in the Facebook News Feed. Facebook also allows you to create pages that promote yourself or your products/services. This is a great way to instantly gain awareness for your projects at little to no cost whatsoever (the only cost would be if you opted into the Ads program). I have a Fan Page for both myself and my Photoshop Podcast, both of which act as a hub within Facebook for people to gain information about me and the show, and to get the latest updates and video links.

The only drawback to Facebook is the constant annoyance that is caused by the applications people embed in their profiles. I find these apps very distracting and they can make someone’s profile page a nightmare to navigate. However, it is possible to block these apps by using the GreaseMonkey Web Plugin. All-in-All Facebook is great site and has quickly become the center of my social networking world.

2. Linkedin

My second networing site of choice is Linkedin. This is a social network for business professionals that allows you to connect to various people and build a network of contacts in order to further your role in the business world. Personally I think Linkedin should be much more popular than it is (especially with their new site design), but it has still yet to catch fire like Facebook or MySpace. I use this site to stay in contact with people I meet during my various business endeavors and also as a way of promoting myself and/or projects that I am involved with.

What I love about this site is that your profile page acts as a digital resume for contacts (and potential employers) to view and see your various skills and/or references. This site also offers a great job search engine which will help those looking for employment find work in a field related to their specific skills or interests. Recently they added a status option to the Linkedin profile that allows you to let all of your contacts know what you are working on at any given time. This might not be the most helpful feature o Linkedin but it’s kind of nice to see what everybody is working on in your network.

The final reason that I chose Linkedin is because it allows you to contact potential connections directly and/or be introduced to them through a mutual contact that you both share. This is a great way to network from home and you can gain some very powerful business contacts without ever having to leave the comfort of your living room. So if you’re a business person, especially if you work in a creative media or web-related field it would behoove you to join Linkedin and start building your business network today!

3. Twitter

The final social networking site that I’ll be sticking with is Twitter. I am absolutely addicted to Twitter and I find more and more people are starting to use it to make connections, stay in touch with friends/family, promote themselves or their projects, and live blog during events or tradeshows. Twitter is somewhat misunderstood in my opinion because people don’t understand the practicality of it. Many people ask me why anyone would want to get constant updates about what you had for breakfast or what movie your seeing tonight?

Well, it’s true some people use Twitter as simply a means to let the world know what their doing at a given moment in time, but there are those of us that use twitter as a form of communication that is far more valuable than that. The great thing about Twitter is that it’s quick and simple. You never get any fluff from a twitter post because it’s limited to 140 characters, so people know they have to get to the point and fast! Another great thing about Twitter is the fact that you can integrate it into almost every facet of your everyday life. You can set it to send you an IM when your contacts make a post, and you can also have Twitter send you text messages to your mobile phone so that you can keep up with your contacts on-the-go.

Perhaps the best function of Twitter that I have seen is how useful it is for gathering information about news and events. You can follow feeds from various news agencies like the New York Times or Fox News and have the latest headlines distributed to your Twitter almost instantly. Twitter is also useful for people attending trade-shows and events. During the recent SXSW conference many people used Twitter to organize get-togethers with fellow conference attendees and also gave live updates of various sessions and/or events they were attending during the show. Whether you understand it or you don’t, there is no denying that Twitter is quickly becoming popular among the tech faithful, so you owe it to yourself to at least check it out.

There are a ton of social networking sites out there, and the ones I mentioned here might not be the best fit for you. These are simply my choices… Facebook for my social life, Linkedin for my business life, and Twitter for keeping up with what’s happening right now! I believe it’s impossible to devote yourself to just one social network, and it may also be impossible to actively participate in them all, but you’ve got to find what works for you and stick with it because like it or not, these sites are the future and they’re here to stay!

By the way, if you would like to connect with me on any of these sites just click on the links at the top of the sidebar on My Blog!