I'm an Internet marketer and a big fan of social networks. I use a multitude of different accounts over various different platforms everyday; Facebook, Twitter, Diggit, Tumblr and Pinterest to name a few. These social networking platforms are known by most, but there are many out there that although have many users already signed up and logged in, are still relatively unknown. Here are five of my favourite social networks, which you may not have heard of.
Described as the world's largest goal-setting community, its motto is, 'changing your life is hard; doing it by yourself is harder.' 43 Things allows you to list your goals, whilst being able to see whom else shares the same goals as you; there is even a section where you can read about how others have achieved theirs. You are allocated five cheers a day which you may give to others in order to 'cheer' them on, and others may do the same to you.
Buffer allows you to input tweets and facebook statuses, which it will then upload to your accounts periodically at your desired times, much like Tweetdeck does for twitter. It does exactly what it says it will do and is very easy to use, however, if you want to add more than two accounts, you'll have to pay $10 a month for it. If you're feeling lazy, there is a 'suggest a tweet/post' button, which does come up with some good content. Click this, and the suggested tweet/post will show and you can either ask for another, or post it.
Ever wanted to create your own social network? In essence, Ning is a social network development platform with the added benefit of being a social network in itself. If you've no design experience, the features are quite simple and easy to use. If you have created your own blog before, it is much like this. For the more design savvy, you can use CSS to add a much more personalised feel. This isn't free, although you can have a 30-day free trial and packages start from £20 for the year.
Gogobot is a travel social networking site, which allows you to source and give advice about places and destinations that you have visited. It leverages your social data to make your trip planning much easier, as it believes, that advice from people that you know is better than the advice that you may receive from strangers. Give advice, recommendations and upload pictures to the site and connect with your friends through facebook and twitter.
Do you love Instagram and Pinterest? This social networking site combines the two so that you can share your Instagram photos online, whilst benefiting from the ease of the Pinterest layout. Italian web developer Gennaro Varriale, the creator of pingram, said that he wanted "a simple way to share Instagram photos with a clean interface." You also have the added bonus, once you have an account, of using the 'pin it' button to Pin your Instagram photos directly to Pinterest.
Have you heard of used any of these? What social networks do you use that others may not have heard of?