Social networks –
Virtual communities that allow people to build personal web pages and then connect with others to share content and communication. Some of these venues appeal to broad groups, (i.e. Facebook, MySpace), whereas others are built around particular niches and demographics (i.e. LinkedIn).

Forums –
Areas for online discussion, in which multiple users can create topics of interest and then comment on these topics. Forums came about before the term “social media” and are a powerful and popular element of online communities.

Blogs
Perhaps the best known form of social media, blogs (short for web logs) are websites that typically feature posts, by an individual or group, which readers can comment upon. Blogs may vary in nature but tend to be popular, as they often provide an unvarnished, insider perspective on a particular topic.

Microblogging
social networking combined with bite-sized blogging, where small amounts of content (‘updates’) are distributed online and through the mobile phone network. Twitter is the clear leader in this field.

Content communities
Sites that allow users to post and share particular kinds of content. Such communities exist around anything from videos and photos to stories and links. Some of these sites include voting functions that allow the community to determine the relevance of content. The most popular content communities tend to form around photos ( Flickr), bookmarked links
( del.icio.us) and videos ( YouTube).

Wikis
Wikis are community-generated documents and databases. Approved users can create content and augment the content of others in the interest of creating better resources. The best-known wiki is Wikipedia.com, the online encyclopedia which has over 2 million articles in the English edition alone.

Podcasts
Audio and video files that are available by subscription, through services like Apple iTunes.

Virtual Worlds
This represents one of the most novel areas on the web, in which users can engage in immersive worlds. Some of these spaces closely mimic real-world notions such as community and economics.

It is no surprise that social networks are some of the most frequently visited websites on the internet. This also means that the majority of internet users all end up in these central locations, and is great if you are looking to make money. Here are three ways you can make money via social networks:

1. Advertising. Whether on FaceBook, MySpace or whatever (except Twitter), you can make money from advertising. Whether you want to handle advertising for another company, and charge them a fee, or you want to advertise your own services, this is a great way to make money online. FaceBook ads are especially targeted, because they know a lot about their users and target down the demographic to exactly what you are looking for.
2. Developing Apps. Apps are the new craze on social networks. If you are app developer, there are many ways you can make money. One way to do this is to develop apps and place advertising on the app. Whether from Google AdSense or from private advertising, you can make a lot of money from Apps. You can also get your app sponsored if you find the right company, and they can pay you to develop the apps.
3. Lastly, you can sell items on sites like FaceBook. Use FaceBook marketplace to find some junk and sell it. This is the quickest and easiest way to make money using a social network: selling stuff.

If you get creative, there are countless ways to make money using a social network. All you have to keep in mind is to spread the word and get the information out to as many people possible. The more traffic, the more money!

FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube are definitely the top dogs when it comes to social networks, but it didn’t start there. There are hundreds of social networks on the internet. Some are very broad, like hi5 and Orkut, while others are very specific like Model Mayhem. Here are 3 social networks you should definitely know about:

1. hi5. hi5 is just like MySpace and FaceBook. It is catered towards teenagers and young adults and is very user friendly and safe. hi5 has been around just as long as MySpace has been around, and has millions of members. It is great for networking amongst friends and colleagues.
2. SoundClick. SoundClick is for musicians and you can upload and sell your music. It’s great for musicians who are trying to make their buzz bigger by allowing fans to hear all of their music. There is no upload limit, so you can just upload as many songs as you wish. It’s also a great place for listeners to find new music. SoundClick has charts, broken down to every niche genre, so you can find all the new music you want to.
3. LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social network catered to business professionals for networking. This is great for entrepreneurs and professionals who are looking for like-minded people to conduct business with. Whether you want to start a business, want consultation, or want to find a trading partner, LinkedIn is definitely the site you should be on if you are in business.

There are so many social networks popping up everyday. Ning.com allows users to create their own social networks on topics which they choose. Odds are that if you have an idea of a social network you would like to join, there is one available out there. A simple Google search should help you find it!

One of the great things about social networks is the friendliness it has towards artists. Soundclick and MySpace were the first to really be artist-friendly, but FaceBook tagged along afterwards. As artists, promotion is key. To gain fans, you must make sure that your work is out there and easily accessible. Social networks made it easy for artists to put their stuff out there to the public, and fans were able to pass it on to other fans, creating a chain reaction.

The first social network you should sign up as an artist for is MySpace. Whether you are an actor, musician, comedian, fashion designer, or whatever, MySpace is the first social network to sign up for. You can create your profile, put your portfolio/demo/reel up and start befriending like-minded people. This will help you network and get your name out there.

The second social network to sign up for is twitter. Once you are on twitter, you can start following people you admire, as well as start gaining followers. On twitter you can make announcements and get to know your fans better through micro-blogging. It is important that in this day you start a twitter account.

Lastly, make a FaceBook fan page. A FaceBook fan page will help you gather all your fans and act as a portfolio of your work. Your fans can see each other, befriend each other, and make your buzz bigger. It also helps you get to know your fans better and in the long run will help you with marketing.

Frequently update all of your social network profiles and stay active in the community. Engage in discussions with your fans and get to know them, this will help you make your buzz bigger and create loyal fans.

Make sure that on each social network profile, you provide a link to your other profiles. This will help you gain friends in all of your profiles and help you make your buzz bigger.

Blogging is fun. I am a blogger, so trust me, it’s fun! People blog for a variety of reasons; some do it to promote a product, some do it to promote themselves, some do it for the love of writing, some do it to make money. There are a million reasons to blog, all you got to do is find yours! I personally blog for two reasons; because I enjoy it, and because I want to promote myself as a writer. When I started blogging, I used some free platforms, but eventually moved on to buying my own host and server and began to use another platform. Here are three popular blogging platforms:

1. Blogger. Blogger is popular because Google made it popular. This free service is great for the aspiring blogger who wants to start building a fan base without risking anything. Blogger provides you with a subdomain (yourname.blogger.com) and a bunch of different templates to customize your blog. You can add a couple of ad revenue sources if you want to make money, but essentially, it’s for bloggers who are just starting.
2. MySpace. MySpace is great to blog on: it’s easy to network with a community and you can post a whole bunch of stuff on your page! Although MySpace is associated with artists, it is also great for the aspiring writer looking to network.
3. WordPress. WordPress is my weapon of choice. Whether you choose the free version, or download the source code and put it on your host, it is one of the most powerful and easiest to use blogging platforms available. This site is actually running off of WordPress and it’s not even a blog, put it that way! WordPress has a ton of plug ins available, and I personally recommend downloading the source code, putting it on your own host and buying a domain to use it to its maximum potential.

These are just three blogging platforms available, there are literally hundreds out there. So, look around, choose a platform, and start blogging!

MySpace is awesome, and was awesome even before Tila Tequila made it famous! It is really catered to the individual more than the company. I’ve had a MySpace account since 2005, and was addicted. Then FaceBook and all these other social networks came along, so I started spreading my time out across these networks and found that MySpace had a lot of strengths in many areas. Here are 4 reasons to use MySpace:

1. If you are any type of artist, MySpace is for you! You can put samples of your work on your MySpace page and you can connect with countless like-minded individuals!
2. You are a company looking for some inexpensive talent. If you need a musician do make you a jingle, or a aspiring filmmaker to film you a commercial, MySpace is the place to be! You can find tons of artists and look through them to pick and choose which one you want to go with.
3. You are a company who wants to promote a product. MySpace Groups can help you create a product page full of information, and invite people to that group.
4. You are a blogger looking to network easily. You can post your blogs on MySpace and connect with friends. This will make your blogs very interactive and the community will be able to take part in them. Also, with MySpace bulletin boards, it is easy to blast information to all your friends. Think of Twitter, but with longer messages!

MySpace is especially useful for the artists, but is also useful for companies. Connect with people via MySpace!