Among the plethora of social media services that have exploded into existence recently, these are some of the services that have caught our eye:
1.Google+
Google is flexing its considerable muscles in the social space, aiming to create a more unified ecosystem across its services with the addition of a social layer. Since its launch in June last year, the fledgling network has attracted 90 million users, and its growth spurt is expected to continue at full speed.
2. Tumblr
The social blogging service reportedly grew by 900% globally last year, shifting from 10 million to 90 million monthly unique visits. It also recorded over 13 billion blog posts across over 35 million blogs. Popular Tumblr pages include the likes of All That's Interesting and Animals Talking in All Caps. Tumblr is beating out the competition in the blogosphere thanks to its simplicity and brevity.
3. Pinterest
The online pinboard “to organise and share things you love” has taken off despite still being an invitation-only service. Pinterest reported over 11 million visits in a single week in December. According to reports, the service is dominated by female users (58%) who mostly share items relating to interior design, fashion and photography.
4. Badoo
The social network/dating community has over 136 million users across 180 countries. Users can chat, upload photos and videos while also connecting with people in their area or from around the world. The service is free, but users can sign up for premium paid-for services to increase their visibility on the site.
5. Chime.in
The “interest network” that is still in beta, has already garnered a lot of attention as a hybrid of successful social media platforms such as Twitter, Reddit and Facebook. Users and brands can share content, photos, videos and polls. Upvoting then surfaces the content in relevant interest groups. Launched in October last year, it offers a built-in money-making system for users who choose to run content-related ads on their pages.
Note: These are by no means the only social media services to watch, and ITWeb will publish similar, updated lists on a regular basis.
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