How many social networks are there in the world? We don’t know everything: what social networks exist on the Internet

This week, the founder of the world's largest social network Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is coming to Russia, who has already hinted about his desire to lure the best specialists from the Russian IT industry to the United States.

Indeed, working on a social network looks tempting, because such projects can easily be considered one of the most popular areas in the development of Internet technologies. Hundreds of millions, what’s up, billions of people are eager to exchange useful information every day, arrange meetings, and share fresh impressions from their lives. The world of social networks is an entire industry where the fittest survive. Where should you leave your mark, and which projects will never be able to shine before the public?

Facebook

Of course, the social network Facebook has every right to be considered the most widespread today throughout the globe. Moreover, the number of users continues to grow steadily, reaching the volume of all mobile device users in the world. At the same time, FB itself is improving: new tools are appearing, network operation is speeding up, and integration with smartphones is developing.

Foursquare

The Foursquare project is a social network that offers the ability to register users in specific locations on the map. Today, about 20 million people participate in it, each of whom strives to become a check-in champion. The practical benefit of the network is this: you can track the movements of friends and acquaintances on the map and intersect with them if possible.

Google+

The Google+ social network allows you to keep in touch through your existing Google account. In other words, if you have your own email, you can easily create a page on Google+. The project is developing extremely rapidly, and its extensive capabilities are in many ways not inferior to Facebook. By the way, quite recently it became possible to video chat with several people, up to ten friends.

Imo.im

If the user's main goal is to exchange messages with friends, then Imo.im is a great choice. This application offers instant messaging capabilities and can be easily installed on most smartphones. Thanks to Imo.im, the user can freely send text messages to friends from different social networks.

Instagram

The social network Instagram, purchased by Facebook, although no longer formally an independent project, looks quite independent. Using Instagram, you can quickly post photos processed with all kinds of filters. This application is easy to use, convenient and widely popular.

LinkedIn

A social network of professionals - this is exactly how LinkedIn positions itself. Using this program, you can easily find your work colleagues, make appointments, and exchange experiences. Over 175 million people use LinkedIn worldwide.

Twitter App/TweetDeck

Twitter today remains the leader in the field of short messages. He is extremely popular among all groups of the population, including show business stars and top politicians. Twitter allows you to upload and share photos, videos, and links to websites.

Path

Pinterest

The Pinterest app allows you to share photos with friends and acquaintances. You can find things online that are of interest to the user, and then post them on your page. Other users can repost these items and also comment on the tagged items. Most recently, Pinterest released applications for the Android mobile operating system, as well as for the iPad tablet.

Tumblr

As of April 2017, Facebook remains the most popular social network in the world. Its monthly audience is almost 2 billion people (to be more precise - 1968 million).

The second place in the ranking in popularity is occupied by the WhatsApp instant messaging system - 1200 million. The third position is occupied by the well-known video hosting YouTube - 1000 million. However, the same results were demonstrated by Facebook Messenger (an application for instant messaging and video exchange from Facebook) - 1000 million .

Next in popularity are social networks: WeChat (a mobile communication system for sending text and voice messages) - 889 million, QQ (the most popular Chinese instant messaging service) - 868 million, Instagram (an application for sharing photos and videos) - 600 million ., QZone (China's largest social network) - 595 million, Tumblr (microblog service) - 550 million, Twitter (microblog service) - 319 million. This is what the top ten most popular social networks in the world look like in 2017.

But in addition to these, there are other social networking sites and applications in the world: Sina Weibo - 313 million, Baidu Tieba - 300 million, Snapchat - 300 million, Skype - 300 million, Viber - 260 million, LINE - 220 million ., Pinterest - 150 million, YY - 122 million, LinkedIn - 106 million, Telegram - 100 million, BBM - 100 million, VKontakte - 95, Kakaotalk - 49 million.

These are the most popular social networks in the world in 2017. As you can see, among the popular systems there are not only traditional social networks, but also various applications and messaging services. The largest of them still have American “registration”. But recently, Chinese social networks have become increasingly popular. This is facilitated by the continued penetration of the Internet in the most populous country in the world. Therefore, it is likely that in a few years a similar rating will look somewhat different.

Photo: Screenshot of the Facebook home page

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It is no secret that social networks are visited by millions of Internet users every day. They communicate with each other, download, view videos, pictures, photos, etc. The lion's share of activity on the World Wide Web falls on these sites called social networks. But which one is the most popular and visited? Below is a list of the ten most popular social networks. networks in the world.

Vine

Vine is a service and mobile application that allows you to create and publish short videos no more than 6 seconds long. The service was founded in June 2012 by Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll. However, before its official launch, Vine was acquired by Twitter, Inc. for $30 million. Vine debuted as a free app on January 24, 2013 and was initially only available for iOS devices. However, it later became available for Android and Windows Phone. On April 9, 2013, the application became the most downloaded free application in the App Store. At the end of June, it already had 13 million users, and about 1 million new videos began appearing on the service every day. Vine has about 42,000,000 visitors every month.

Flickr

In ninth place in the ranking of the most popular social networks. networks there is Flickr - a site for posting photos and videos, as well as viewing, discussing, rating and archiving them. Allows you to communicate and create thematic groups. The service was launched on February 10, 2004, and in March 2005 it was bought by the American company Yahoo! As of March 2013, Flickr had 87 million registered users and more than 3.5 million new images uploaded per day.

VKontakte

VKontakte is a social network based in St. Petersburg and owned by Mail.Ru Group. The project was launched on October 10, 2006. The site is available in several languages, but it is especially popular among the Russian-speaking audience. Like other social networks, VKontakte allows its users to exchange messages, images, audio, video, create groups, public pages and events, and also play Flash games using a browser. As of January 2015, the site's audience is about 71 million people per day.

Instagram

Instagram is a free application for sharing photos and short videos with the ability to distribute them through its service to other social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched in October 2010 as a free mobile app. The service quickly gained popularity. As of April 2012, it had 100 million active users worldwide, and 300 million as of December 2014. In April 2012, Instagram was acquired by Facebook for approximately $1 billion.

Tumblr

The sixth place in the list of the most popular social networks in the world is occupied by Tumblr, a microblogging service that allows users to publish text messages, images, videos, links and audio recordings to their tumblr blog. The site was founded in 2007 by David Karp. May 18, 2013 Yahoo! acquired the service for $1.1 billion. As of 2015, there are about 220 million blogs registered on Tumblr.

Google+

Google+ is a social network developed and owned by Google Inc. The service was launched on June 28, 2011. And two weeks after its launch on July 14, 2011, Google announced that the Google+ social network has more than 10 million users. As of September 17, 2012, the site’s audience is 400 million users, and the active monthly audience has reached 135 million people.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network designed for finding and establishing business contacts. It was founded in December 2002 by Reed Hoffman and launched on May 5, 2003. The site is available in 24 languages ​​and has over 380 million registered users representing 150 different business sectors from 200 countries. About half of the users are residents of the United States, 25 million are from Europe.

Pinterest

Third place in the list of the ten most popular social networks in the world is occupied by Pinterest - social. network, photo hosting, allowing users to add and share images. The site was founded by Ben Silberman, Paul Sayer and Evan Sharp in March 2010. As of February 2013, Pinterest has 48.7 million users worldwide.

Twitter - social a network and microblock service that allows users to create and exchange public short messages of up to 140 characters. Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and launched in July 2006. The service quickly gained popularity around the world, with more than 100 million users posting approximately 340 million tweets per day in 2012. As of May 2015, Twitter has more than 500 million registered users, of which more than 302 million are active. As of 2012, the company employs more than 900 employees.

Facebook

Facebook is the largest and most popular social network in the world and is available in more than 70 languages. Owned by Facebook, Inc., headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, USA. The site was launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard University roommates and classmates Dustin Moskowitz, Eduardo Saverin and Chris Hughes. As of July 2014, Facebook's audience amounted to 1.32 billion users, and the average daily audience of social networks. The network has 968 million users (approximately every 7th person on the planet is registered on Facebook). The site is valued at approximately $100 billion, making Mark Zuckerberg, at 23, the youngest billionaire on the planet.

Share on social media networks

Since man invented the Internet, and the first one who did it would do well to erect a monument, attitudes towards marketing and advertising have changed, and people have become much closer, although they seem to have forgotten how to write letters. Despite the lack of face-to-face communication, we increasingly communicate through social networks, created so that you can always be aware of changes in the lives of loved ones and friends, even if they live on the other side of the Earth. It is a pity that the nationalist elite in Ukraine canceled popular Russian networks, meanwhile, all of them were included in the ranking of social networks in 2018. We offer it to you now.

What indicators to consider

There are 251 countries in the world today, although there is a high probability of their number increasing in the near future (at the expense of the same Ukraine), and each state lives by its own laws. This applies, among other things, to attitudes towards the World Wide Web and social networks. The Chinese, for example, completely abandoned American and Russian networks and created their own. They are very popular here and the Chinese seem to be quite happy with it.

We will not take into account the exception of countries where the Internet is completely prohibited. In any case, we will not impose our opinion and question the popularity of this or that project, especially since the opinion of Russians, Belarusians and the same ordinary Ukrainians differs significantly from the opinion of Americans and Australians, for example. The main thing is that communication is sincere and that intelligence agencies do not interfere with it, and it is no secret that communication via the Internet is under increased control.

World ranking

Analysts, and fortunately these are not always politicized people conducting independent research, have determined the top five by ranking social networks in the world. Perhaps Russians and residents of other countries will not like this, but you can’t argue with the facts, and these projects are indeed the most popular, and it was not by chance that experts placed them in this order.

• Fifth place. Despite the bans and anti-Russian sanctions, the Russian project “VKontakte” entered the TOP of popularity. Created in 2006, it is now extremely popular, and the fact that the number of users is approaching 300 million suggests that VK is used not only in Russia. It is in demand in many countries, and especially where Russian is still considered a native language for many.

• Second place. In the near future, perhaps Google+ will claim the title of the best social network in the world, but today it is only “silver”. Created in 2001, the network already has 600 million accounts, while its popularity is controversial, but it is always among the top ten.

If you are an active Internet user, then there is nothing surprising in how social networks are ranked by popularity. Perhaps many have not heard about the Chinese project “Sina Weibo”, but most do not need it, in fact, unless you want to establish contact with the Chinese (to organize a joint business, for example). Russians have their own understanding of the issue, so Russian sociologists have compiled their rating of social networks in Russia in 2018, which we suggest you familiarize yourself with.

Russian rating

If we talk about projects that are respected among Russians, then it is worth paying special attention to domestic products. I would not like to confuse simple communication between people with geopolitics, although this is often exactly what happens. We are interested in sincere communication without politics, although it is present, but how could it be otherwise, because being apolitical is not fashionable today. Russians, being educated people, which Americans cannot boast of, cannot ignore political processes, and what better way to express their opinion than through social networks.

• Third place. “My World” is the domestic answer to “Google+”, which is extremely popular in the world. Every month the number of Russian-speaking users increases by 15-16 million, but “My World” cannot yet compare with world leaders.

• Second place. While most projects are used by young people to communicate, people of all ages communicate on Odnoklassniki. Many even believe that this is the best social network for dating in Russia, but facts are stubborn things and therefore at the moment this is an honorary “silver”.

• First place. The rating of the popularity of social networks in Russia in 2018 was topped by the “VKontakte” project, which has already united almost 300 million people from different countries. Through the VKontakte group you can not only meet and communicate, but also advertise your business, for which unique tools and opportunities are provided.

Perhaps the TOP social networks in Russia in 2018 in your opinion looks different, and many would prefer to put Facebook and even Lenkedln, which is not recommended for communication among Russians, among the leaders. In any case, it is difficult to imagine the life of a modern young man without such remote communication. The main thing is that the communication is sincere, and try to avoid communication on political grounds - remember Professor Preobrazhensky, who did not recommend reading newspapers before lunch.

But, fortunately, everything is not as sad as it might seem at first glance, and in this situation you can also find a lot of positive aspects.

So, what are the pros and cons of visiting? social networks? And in order to make it more convenient to calculate the final result, we number each item separately.

Let's start with the positive aspects of social networks

2. Ease of communication and information exchange. Of course, each of us has a mobile phone and we can exchange information via SMS and mms messages. But this takes a considerable amount of money. It is much more convenient, faster and, importantly, more profitable, to send data on social networks.

3. You can create a circle of interests. That is, subscribe to news from interesting communities and groups, make certain purchases (Groups selling any goods are now very developed) and even find a job.

4. Receive reminders on time about holidays, be it City Day, a school friend’s anniversary, or your neighbor’s name day. And after receiving a reminder, you can immediately send a beautiful sticker on a photo or a greeting card.

Now let's look at the negative aspects of social networks

2. Detachment from the real world. On social networks we position ourselves somewhat differently than in life. And as a result, there is a risk of becoming so accustomed to the created virtual image that, so to speak, it is not always possible to return to earth on time.

3. Personality degradation. If you pay attention to the speech of overly active users of social networks, you will notice the meaninglessness of most of their conversations and the presence in them of words that are incomprehensible to ordinary people, such as “like”, “use”, “lol”, etc.

4. Social networks are a field of activity for scammers and ill-wishers. Unfortunately, not many people think that posting the most detailed information about your life (address, phone number, place of work) can ultimately turn against you. For example, on a social network you share the joy of buying a new laptop or a fur coat, and a week later you write that you are going on vacation with the whole family, like “Don’t lose me, I’m vacationing in Turkey.” And as a result, when you return from a trip, you may not find a fur coat, a laptop, or other valuables.

Perhaps we’ll end the comparison at this point, thereby leveling out all the pros and cons of visiting social networks.
And based on what was written above, we can draw an unambiguous conclusion - Social networks do not cause harm if you use them in moderation, ideally devoting no more than 1 hour a day to them.

So we considered the issue

The benefits and harms of social networks

Currently, social networks have become an integral part of the lives of a huge number of people. And some regular users develop a certain dependence on such time spent. A considerable part of all registered accounts belong to children aged 5 years and older. Unfortunately, not all parents consider such an important factor as monitoring the time their child spends on the Internet, including on social networks. But the child’s psyche is much more flexible than an adult’s, and the harm caused by constant visiting of social networks can be quite great for a child.

So what danger can lie in wait for a child on social networks?

Of course, that's already regular presence in front of the monitor within a few hours cannot have a good effect on the well-being and health of the child. Firstly, this is, and secondly, due to incorrect position, problems may arise. problems with posture and spine, and thirdly, minimizing physical activity leads to a general weakening of the body, as a result of which immunity suffers, and, as a result, all sorts of viruses and diseases begin to stick to the child. But can an adequate and reasonable parent who loves his child allow this? Of course, many mothers and fathers find it convenient to free up their time in this way by putting their child at the computer and keeping him busy with some kind of game (And often this activity is just online games on VKontakte).

Do not forget that, in addition to ordinary people who spend time on social networks in order to chat with school friends, watch interesting pictures or videos and play games, there are also those who hide their real identity by introducing themselves with fictitious names and providing information deliberately false information. But among such users there may be maniacs and perverts. They can introduce themselves as childhood friends of the child's parents, neighbors, parents of classmates and make an appointment, promising to give a gift for his parents, warning that they do not need to know about it, since it is a surprise. And this is not the only example of luring children into the clutches of criminals.

The next danger is the child’s detachment from the real world. After all, communicating with peers on a social network is much easier. And a child can acquire live communication skills only in real life. And if he spends more time talking through Internet messages, then in the very near future he may have problems communicating with classmates and friends in the yard.

Also, one of the consequences of constantly being on social networks is a decrease in concentration. In other words, it becomes difficult for a child to focus his gaze on one object (for example, reading a book), since in a social network he constantly has to transfer his attention from one object to another.

Dear parents, in order to avoid unpleasant and sometimes very sad consequences, try to limit your child’s presence at the computer as much as possible, and also carefully monitor his communication on the Internet. social networks. Take the time to have a preventative conversation, explaining who you can carry on a conversation with and who you shouldn’t. And then your child will not get into trouble and harm his health.

So, we have shown what exists

The harmful effects of social networks on the life and psyche of a child

The influence of social networks Odnoklassniki, VKontakte on a person’s real life

Most of the world's population spends more than one hour every day in social networks. And many even transfer their entire lives into virtual space, sometimes forgetting about real time altogether.

Every year, a considerable number of people move more and more away from live communication, walks in the fresh air, picnics, etc. in favor of spending time on social networks.

Of course, living in the virtual world is much easier, since it becomes possible to think about every word before writing it, thanks to which many conflicts can be avoided. In life, we sometimes speak without thinking, which often leads to unpleasant consequences.

Nowadays, we congratulate friends more and more often via the Internet, stick stickers on their photos in Odnoklassniki, post cards on the VKontakte wall, or simply add congratulatory comments to photos. Although it really wouldn't hurt to call in person.

Games on social networks also began to take up a lot of time. It is rare to meet a person who has never participated in them. Some people plant and water the garden, some fight zombies or raise pets, and some solve logic puzzles and riddles. And this entire gaming audience is not limited to certain age limits. Both children and adults are passionate about this.

Unfortunately, there are often cases when communication and games on social networks have the most negative impact on real life. Many people lose their jobs because they waste their working time on online entertainment. Family breakdowns are also common. There can be absolutely many reasons for this. Starting with banal acquaintances, which lead to far from harmless meetings, and ending with excessive enthusiasm for the above-mentioned games and applications to the detriment of time that should be devoted to your children and significant other. And how many scandals flare up because of the reading of the correspondence of one of the spouses.

Again, let's return to the problem of real communication. After all, when we get used to writing text on a social network, we lose our emotions. As a result, speech becomes much less developed. After conducting a little research in this area and talking with regular visitors to the virtual space, we can conclude that the speech of these people is replete with words like: “Oki” and “Smacks.” And communication with them does not carry any semantic load. As a rule, on a social network, users express their thoughts and emotions through statuses, that is, certain phrases several words long. Agree, but in real life it is practically impossible to express your opinion in this way.

Excessive enthusiasm for communicating on social networks can lead to the manifestation in a person’s mind of an illusory world in which he is the smartest, most beautiful and quick-witted. And this fact does not give a person a chance for realization in real life. It turns out that in the virtual world he is a hero, but in reality he has nothing.

These consequences are especially fraught for the not fully formed child and youth psyche. Since, preferring virtual communication, they excessively protect themselves from the realities of life and, as a result, can get problems in contact with classmates and teachers.

Of course, it will definitely protect itself from the world of Internet hobbies and social networks very difficult, but still limiting their influence on real life will not be superfluous.

So we have briefly shown

The influence of social networks Odnoklassn, VKontakte on a person’s real life

We see that the Internet and social networks have made people dependent on social networks. Man, instead of real life, live communication, replaced it with virtual communication. The Internet and social networks are necessary, they have become part of our lives. But nothing should have the will of a person, his purpose. You need to understand that a person was born not for social networks, but for learning to love other living beings on earth. And this time is short!

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   Every year, a lot of people move more and more away from live communication, walks in the fresh air, picnics, etc. in favor of spending time on social networks.