Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites

[gemz4the1]

It's 2014 and almost everyone (apart from my 85 year old nan) have been on a social networking site in their lifetime.

In the news it has been reported that less people are using Facebook nowadays.  Has the age of the social networking died off?

Are you on a social networking site? If so, which one and why? Do you use it to connect to old school friends or work colleagues, distant family who live elsewhere or complete strangers on the other side of the world?

[Anonymous]

Its been reported that fewer young people are using Facebook, and this is probably because of a few reasons:

* The lack of privacy

* Its become too complicated

* Their parents are on it...

I think sites/apps like Instagram and Snapchat are becoming more and more popular (despite the lack of security from Snapchat) because they are simple and fun compared to Facebook.

Facebook won't always be the most popular site for social networking. Before them there was Bebo, and before that MySpace...both of which are now pretty much defunct. Before that you had FriendsReunited and Geocitiesm while AOL Instant Messenger let users chat (A/S/L anyone?)

I am almost certain that another site will eventually surpass Facebook as the most popular social networking site.

Back to topic...I am on pretty much every single social networking site you could think of. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, FriendsReunited, Pinterest, Reddit, 4Chan, Tumblr and I could probably go on. 

[gemz4the1]

I used to (and still do) hate it when the first thing that people say when they send you a message is 'asl?' I think it is pointless as age makes no difference.  I am a friendly person and I will talk to anyone (obviously not too young).

I miss MSN - I used to use it and it was nice to chat to people but I don't like the Skype that has been introduced.

I like twitter as it is easy and simple to interact with others.  I think its search engine is a lot easier to use.

Facebook is getting a bit lax at the moment with the security/privacy issues.  Also, it is annoying seeing certain peoples random posts of 'what I am having for dinner' and a picture of it.  Although I do like Facebook for getting in touch with old school friends or friends from holiday.

I used to be on MySpace and I went back on it a few weeks ago and I was very surprised at how much it has changed.  I think the last time I was on it was about 2010 and it is very different.  It seems to be more music orientated now.

I like SnapChat for the random funny pictures that are sent.  I don't know if it is a good or bad idea that the pictures do not get saved.  I read an article the other day that make me laugh - it said that people who are having an affair are using SnapChat because no history is kept on SnapChat.

There are so many social networking sites these days and no matter what they are used for, there are pros and cons with them all.

[Anonymous]

I'm only on FB and Twitter.  FB is ok but I get fed up with some of the attention seeing comments - "Feeling sad", "What's up?", "Inbox me, I don't want to say on here."  Well why put the status on in the first place then?!

I like it as it means that I can keep in touch easily with my family, especially the ones in Australia.

I only use Twitter for contacting companies for help / complaints.

[gemz4the1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I only use Twitter for contacting companies for help / complaints.

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I agree - I find Twitter helpful when making complaints to companies, they respond quicker and more effieciently when you post it on Twitter.

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm only on FB and Twitter.  FB is ok but I get fed up with some of the attention seeing comments - "Feeling sad", "What's up?", "Inbox me, I don't want to say on here."  Well why put the status on in the first place then?!

I like it as it means that I can keep in touch easily with my family, especially the ones in Australia.

I only use Twitter for contacting companies for help / complaints.

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I'm with you there Tracey.... Nothing more annoying than FB attention seekers. They soon get deleted from my friends list

[Anonymous]

It doesn't take much to get deleted from my list!  I've been amazed by some of the offensive (well offensive to me) comments that some people have put on FB so they've gone!

[sheepdog]

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@gemz4the1 wrote:

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Facebook is getting a bit lax at the moment with the security/privacy issues.  

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er, its never been too good at privacy and its because people are more aware its getting more attention than ever before. Sadly, my opinion is that its down to the base ethic of these social networking companies is that you are data and that data can be used to market you. In the rush to get the produce out before everyone else, your privacy/security will be dealt with when they get told to i.e. why waste time and money if nobody notices. 

But on a more friday afternoon thing, I don't bother with facebook nor most of the other places as I really can't be bothered. A couple of forums for me is about as far as I need to go these days. In my early days of using the internet (way back in 93/94) I spent far too much time on USENET reading everything and getting involved in flame wares 

[Anonymous]

Facebook to keep in touch with present and past work colleagues. Family , friends and to see pictures uploaded of my granddaughter.

My facebook profile access etc is set to friends only. Nothing is public and none of my personal details are viewable.

Twitter to follow and tweet iOS jail-break developers.

[Anonymous]

Don't trust Facebook at all with anything. It has got too big and tries to do too much outside of its core area.

If Facebook was used by everyone for its true purpose then it would be good but add humans into the equation and things invariably go wrong.