Types of social media

The emergence of social networks influenced the development of activities in its open spaces.

The number of users grows along with the number of applications. Each application is unique and has its own functions and purposes. Depending on the purpose of use, consumers choose a type for themselves that would meet the desired parameters (Iris Uitz, 2012). Figure 3 by Brian Solis (2010), displays the variety of social networks.

Figure 3: The conversation prism

Source: Brian Solis, 2010

Currently, there is no unified system in the literature that could classify social media tools and applications. (Safko, 2010). There is a wide range of classifications of types of social networks.

Table 2 presents both the authors of various scientific articles, as well as well-known social media consultants who describe these types (Kim, W. G., Jeong, O. R. & Lee, S. W., 2010, Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, Safko, 2010, Solis, 2010). The authors divide social networks in different ways, for example, Kim et al. distinguish between two types, while Solis describes 26 types of social networks, it is represents on the Table 1.

Table 1: Types of social media from different Authors WhatsApp, WeChat, TikTok, Instagram and Google. Picture 3 shows the most popular social networks, ranked by the number of users. The Figure 4 shows that Facebook is the market leader with more than 2.5 million active users, followed by YouTube and WhatsApp with an

equal number of active users - 2 million. These networks allow users to communicate and share content (Matthee, 2011; Statista, 2020).

Figure 4: Most popular social networks worldwide as of July 2020, (in millions)

Source: Statista 2020

Matthee (2011) highlights the most popular types of social networks:

Social networking sites

Online sites, platforms or servers that are based on the construction of social networks or relationships are called social networking sites (Iris Uitz, 2012). Social networking sites give people the opportunity not only to communicate with strangers, but also to express their thoughts, create content (Boyd & Ellison 2007). Individuals create a profile, add and invite friends to join them on the social network (Mayfield 2008). Moreover, social media have a different user base and differ in functionality (Boyd & Ellison 2007). The most common social networking sites are Facebook, MySpace, Bebo (Mayfield 2008). However, popular from 2005 to 2008, the social network MySpace can no longer compete. The network still exists, but it is not as popular as it used to be (Moreau, E. 2020).

Blogs / Microblogging

A weblog or blog is a website designed by individuals in an informal style and displayed in reverse chronological order (Flew, 2008). Blogs differ from other websites in their nature, they are interactive, which allows visitors to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas. (Kelleher,

2006; Marken, 2005). Due to their unique characteristics, blogs are the most powerful and effective communication tool (Marken, 2005). They can contain multimedia elements, for example, links, web pages, but mostly retain text in nature, like SMS. Also, blogging resembles a personal page, which was originally a good way to introduce yourself and give your opinion.

(Herring, 2004).

The main idea of most blogs is that they are about a specific topic or event, while others resemble an online diary. (Iris Uitz, 2012). Thus, Pradhan, B. and Gupta, P. describe different types of blogs that differ in content and the way they are written. So they distinguish: personal blog, corporate, Q&A blogging, by media type, by device, by genre (Pradhan, B. & Gupta, P (2009).

According to Swist, T. et al., Microblogging is an online site that differs from a regular blog in the size of posts (Swist, T., Collin, P., McCormack, J., 2015). Microblogging has limitations in the form of a limited number of characters, but their content is different from emails, it makes them readable. The main value of microblogging is ease of use and efficiency, because it does not require much time and effort to maintain. They are easier to read than regular blogs due to their brevity, which makes them more desirable. Moreover, people use blogs in addition to their main blog. (Safko, L. & Brake, D. K., 2009).

The most popular microblogging platform is Twitter with over 1 million subscribers. (Safko, L. & Brake, D. K., 2009; Mayfield, A. 2008). Also, there are other social networks - these are Jaiku и Pownce (Safko, L. & Brake, D. K., 2009).

Wikis

Wiki is a browser-based platform that allows everyone, based on their experience and knowledge, to add information, as well as edit content in articles (Safko, L. & Brake, D. K., 2009). Like-minded people around the world arrange an electronic version of a brainstorming session among each other, thus increasing productivity (Gorman, G.E. 2005). Incorrectly added information is corrected quite quickly. Long, Sarah Ann., claims this is the best example of democracy where everyone has the freedom to write. (Long, Sarah Ann., 2006). The ease of use makes this site extremely valuable. All users need to do is edit, write and save, write Safko, L. and Brake, D. K. (Safko, L. & Brake, D. K., 2009).

The most famous wiki is Wikipedia. It contains over 10 million articles of which 2.5 million are in English and has nearly 60 million users in total (Mayfield 2008; Safko, L. & Brake D.

K., 2009).

To support collaboration, wiki is used in education. This allows students to connect and disseminate information among each other. This method engages each student in the work.

(Pradhan, B. & Gupta, P., 2009).

Podcasting

Meng, P. Defines podcasting as the process of recording a song, voice or sound and then publishing it on a blog or website using RRS 2.0 or "tape" (Meng, P. 2005). Balleste, R., Rosenberg, J. and Smith-Butler, L. define podcasts as audio or video files that are available on the internet using RSS feeds (Balleste, R., Rosenberg, J. & Smith-Butler, L. 2006).

The podcast has a subscription feature that allows users to build a loyal audience and groups around your projects. This makes podcasts a powerful social network. (Safko, L. and Brake, D. K., 2009). Also, podcasting has a number of advantages over other platforms. (Donnelly, K. M., & Berge, Z. L. 2006). First of all, it is ease of use, as well as the ability to listen to podcasts anywhere, based on consumers’ needs. Moreover, it gives the opportunity to do other important things while listening. (Mayfield, 2008).

Social bookmarking

Social Bookmarking Systems is a Web 2.0 networking community that allows users to tag and use keywords for Web resources of interest, and share them with others. (Carroll, J. 2007).

Social bookmarks let browse someone else's bookmarks to find an accomplice on the same topics. So, the main concept - to share resources (Information Today, Inc., 2007). The most common example of social bookmarking are del.icio.us, which is used to tag websites, and Flickr for images. (Carroll, J. 2007).

Content communities

Community content is the exchange of media content between users. Community content includes different types of media such as text, video, photos, and PowerPoint presentations.

Unlike other platforms, community content does not require a personal profile, only general information is required, the date of joining and the number of uploaded videos (Kaplan &

Haenlein 2010).

Flickr is the most popular service that allows users to upload photos and allow access to everyone or just the family, writes Mayfield. Another equally well-known platform is YouTube. Users of this platform have the ability to create their own channels or upload their videos (Mayfield, 2008).