Thursday, March 8, 2012

Social Networking: How To?

In spite of the popularity of the social media or networking sites many users are still in dark about the potential the Social Media online. The basic interface of the social networking portals is simple to use but advance usage requires some knowledge.  

Before going into social networking deciding what you want from the activity helps a lot.

Do you wish to make friends?
Do you wish to connect with family and old friends?
Do you wish to make business contacts?
Do you seek information online?
Do you wish to propagate ideas, thoughts or beliefs and ideology?
Or any other purpose that you deem fit worth exploring on the Social Media.

Once you have finalized your goal look for social networking sites online on the Net. Going through the site will help you discover the niche and popularity of the website. Find out what the site delivers best. This can be done by visiting and exploring the site in order to find out its character. Read online reviews and articles. You can also visit forums on social networks and read discussion or inquire from members about the site. More so find out the member base is it growing or stagnant. A new social networking site would have fewer members but the numbers would grow in regular intervals.           

Once you have finalized the site join it. Register as member and create a profile. Your profile should be detailed, descriptive and appealing. Add your photo members without photos appear untrustworthy online. If the option to link to your site or blog is there than you should?

Once you have become member than begin exploring the activities online. Read about and explore the functions that the site offers. Once you have gained insights to the site become a part of its online activities.  
One basic aspect of all social networking sites is feature to connect with other members. There is an option to invite friends and family members as well for more personal inter connectivity.

If your are interested in searching for friends, business connections or professionals etc than there is an option to search. Use it using the right keywords like males in India or females India or handicrafts suppliers etc. The search option may or may not give you many options so you have to search within the limitations.
Once the results are drawn you can carefully scrutinize the profile and then request for friendship. After approval you will become online friends.

Similarly you can join groups or online communities matching your interest or profession. Clicking on the groups’ link will fetch you online communities by category. Joining a group is good way to connect with like minded people. It is good for promoting your profession or business to targeted audience. There are interesting articles and blog entries in the group pages where you can gather information or disseminate.

Some sites offer forum feature for discussion these are valuable for information gathering, advice, tips and tutorials. All these features if you utilize properly will give a good community feeling online.

Many niche sites offer free photo hosting features where you can upload your images. Similarly you can upload videos in order to preserve, store or share them online. 

Social networks offer good opportunity for website optimization and Internet marketing. The virtual communities are good for promoting one’s business and promotion a valuable Internet marketing input. To succeed in Internet marketing one needs skills and experience.

Hence these portals are multi-purpose tools and tremendously interactive. Many new sites with advance features are being uploaded on Internet periodically. Discover these sites and expand your online presence.