Many social networking sites exist, sometimes for different purposes. I often use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. The homepage of any social networking site will tell you the most about what the social network offers. Facebook's News Feed contains various media through which my friends share all aspects of their life--a new photo album of spring break, a check-in at Luke's Lobster, an angry status update about class registration woes, event promotions, article links (so many article links! From developing crises in the Wall Street Journal to 33 photos of corgis on Buzzfeed) and more. My notifications on Facebook are all from friends I talk to regularly that know what is relevant to me.
On the other hand, Twitter is one continuous feed of the same media--snippets of text. Twitter is easy to digest in a different way, because upon viewing I can decide whether something is interesting and pursue further (through clicking on hashtags, links, or viewing the profiles of those who responded to the Tweet) or keep moving. Twitter acts as a modern-day RSS feed for people to quickly scroll through ideas and interests that matter to them. However, most of my friends are not on Twitter. Personal live Tweets feel much more personal on Twitter than on Facebook because big life milestones on Facebook are more comfortably shared with acquaintances than small moments and observations. All notifications are direct interactions rather than simple alerts.
Pinterest is an inspiration board for images. The homepage for Pinterest is a smattering of images that link to different articles or tutorials. Similar to Twitter, the more you actively choose what to subscribe to, the more tailored it is to your interests. I found very little explicit opinions shared on Pinterest, and what's popular is not easily seen. But most of the content is relevant to what I like--including recipes, fashion and home décor. I rarely upload original content on Pinterest as I am not a content creator (unlike on Facebook and Twitter, which are for personal use), but frequently share things that interest me.
I gave up YouTube for Lent so I could not visit it, but that is because I am too familiar with the homepage. YouTube gives equal real estate for subscribed content and trending content, so it is easy for people to discover new things. I believe things go viral more easily on YouTube because your subscriptions do not take over the entire site. Discovery is more central to YouTube than the other sites. Similar to Pinterest, I am not a content creator so I do not upload original content to YouTube very often, but I consume it in mass quantities (or did--hopefully Lent will help me take my focus off the site!).
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