Archives for : April2014

Finished Reviewing All Major Social Networks

I finally finished reviewing all the major social networks.  The purpose of putting this blog together was to organize and prioritize the social media sites I was using.  I also wanted to do some research on all of them to learn more about the history, and take a more conscious look at the features and opportunities each network presented its users.

I also was curious about how many users some of these sites were able to obtain at their peak, and how much the networks sold for.  Researching and organizing this information gave me a lot of awareness of the competitive and fleeting nature of the success that some of these giant networks face.  Trends in social media are undoubtedly a rapidly changing thing and as unpredictable as the individuals who use them.  Innovators are rewarded, but optimizers sometimes are rewarded the most.

My reviews of social media networks include a brief history, an explanation of the networks primary purpose, some pro’s and con’s I found while using the network, and a brief editorial review of my experience on the site.  At the end of each post I linked my social media profile for that particular network, so anybody wishing to connect with me is welcome and able to.

I hope you find these reviews of social media networks to be helpful in putting the social media industry into perspective.  Social media is an unavoidable powerhouse of sharing information and improving human communication and connectivity around the globe, and must be embraced.  However, with trends changing as fast as they are, no one can get comfortable with their knowledge or position on any particular social media network.  Audiences either lose interest, or are dividing their time amongst more niched networks as opposed to the most popular networks that lack in innovative features and offer a lesser user experience because of being filled with advertisements.

I look forward to joining and connecting with you on social media, whatever new sites and networks present themselves. Please connect with me online, and check back to this site regularly for updates on how social media is trending and how those changes will affect you individually as well as how it affects the personal and business climate around you.

Thanks for reading,

vito glazers black and white

Visit my homepage http://VitoGlazers.com

Evolutions of Personal Networks

My name is Vito Glazers.  Years ago I resisted the stampede into social media.  Although I was one the first people I knew who had a cell phone, and spent many hours after school on AIM in grade school and junior high connecting with friends, I barely used MySpace and I was one of the last people I know to succumb to joining Facebook. The idea of making myself very public was never appealing to me. Growing up living with my father, having less resources than most, gave me a simpler perspective on the world than people my age who had embraced technology deeply through video games and laptops.  We did not have a home phone, so I was used to being isolated from communication.  Getting a cell phone opened the world to me.

my first cell phone in 1996

My first cell phone, in 1996

Having the cell phone allowed me to build a personal network at a young age.  The personal network I built as a youth began my evolution into a successful adult.  In retrospect, I see that personal networks are the key to success, as no business can succeed without distribution.  If a product or service is truly revolutionary, there is no better group of people to initially distribute to and share than with those who you are personally connected with. I now understand how important social networks are.  In hindsight, all social networking websites did was digitize the current generations personal networks, making them more accessible and speeding up connectivity between society. Now that more than just our own personal networks have been digitized, and our entire civilization basically has a digital counterpart, social networks are more relevant than ever before.  The exponential increase in people using the internet on desktops, and not just mobile devices, but smart phones, has lead to a widening array of niche social networks.  These new niche social networks all individually appeal and allow users to connect in different ways.  Some of them, like Vine and Instagram, are formatted to preferably only be used on a mobile device and not even from a home computer. In the past 2-3 years I have been catching up on building my online network. Recently I decided to build presences on all the biggest social media sites and give them a fair shot and see if there are any unique features I am missing out on.  I like the idea of social networking, but Facebook is a little bit too personal and overwhelming for me which is a little off-putting.  I love the capabilities of their advertising platform to produce results for individuals and enterprises, but as far as a social networking experience, I think that I would prefer a smaller network that encourages more unique connectivity. Please enjoy this blog which will serve as a place for me to track evolutions in social media; for my personal network, for my business, and for myself.

vito glazers black and white

Visit my homepage at http://VitoGlazers.com