With hundreds of millions of members all of the world, social networking sites are the hottest sites on the internet today. The two most popular Social Connect sites, Facebook and MySpace, have over three hundred million members each. Why are they so popular?
From the beginning the Internet has been a tool to help people communicate and share information quickly and affordably. For example, in the early days there were internet forums where people with a variety of interests could communicate for free. Social networking sites satisfy these basic needs and give users the ability to create personal accounts for free.
When an internet user signs up for an account with any social networking site, he can create his own member or profile page where he can include as little or as much personal information as he wants. From this page the member can communicate with friends and family, send messages, music, videos or information to anywhere in the world.
Members are also free to post text, videos, music or even blogs on their pages. Part of the obvious appeal of these sites is that they give users the ability to create highly personalised pages where they can express themselves in a myriad of ways.
Social networking sites are also extremely popular with businesses, since they are essentially a form of free advertising. A business can use their free account to communicate with current and former customers and to update them about the company. They can also post blogs and videos on their member pages as a way to reach out to new customers.
