What Is Social Networking?

By 
WILL KENTON

Updated September 15, 2022

Reviewed by 
JULIUS MANSA
Fact checked by 
AMANDA JACKSON
Investopdia / Julie Bang

What Is Social Networking?

The term social networking refers to the use of internet-based social
media sites to stay connected with friends, family, colleagues, or customers.
Social networking can have a social purpose, a business purpose, or both,
through sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Social networking is also a significant opportunity for marketers seeking to

engage customers. Facebook remains the largest and most popular social
network, with 2.91 billion people using the platform on a monthly basis, as of
Dec. 31, 2021.1 Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are among the next most
popular, according to Statista.2

KEY TAKEAWAYS

 Social networking is the use of internet-based social media platforms to

get and stay connected with friends, family, or peers.
 Three of the most popular social networking sites in the U.S. include
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
 Marketers use social networking to increase brand recognition and
encourage brand loyalty.
 Social media can help connect people with businesses for various
needs.
 There are disadvantages related to social media, including the spread
of misinformation, concerns posed by user anonymity, and the high
cost of using and maintaining social network profiles.

How Social Networking Works

Social networking involves the development and maintenance of personal
and business relationships using technology. This is done through the use of
social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

These sites allow people and corporations to connect with one another so
they can develop relationships and share information, ideas, and messages.

For Family and Friends

Family members and friends can reconnect and remain connected through
personal social networking sites like Facebook. They can share photos and
status updates on everyday or important events in their lives. People can also
connect with unknown individuals who share the same interests, goals, or
experiences. Individuals can find each other through groups, lists, and the
use of hashtags.

For Marketers
Social networking is commonly used by marketers to increase brand
recognition and encourage brand loyalty. Social media marketing helps
promote a brand’s voice and content. It can help make a company more
accessible to new customers and more prominent for existing ones,

For example, a frequent Twitter user may learn about a company for the first
time through a news feed and decide to buy a product or service. The more
exposed people are to a company’s brand, the greater the company's
chances of finding and retaining new customers.

Marketers use social networking to improve conversion rates. Building a

following provides access to and interaction with new, recent, and longtime
customers. Sharing blog posts, images, videos, or comments on social media
allows followers to react and engage, visit a company’s website, and become
customers.

Major Social Networking Platforms

Facebook

Facebook is a social network that offers users the opportunity to connect with
people, businesses, and organizations. They can post updates and respond
to the posts of others. They can share photographs and links to online
content. Users can chat live, and upload and share video.

Users can also communicate directly with each other via Facebook

Messenger. They can join groups with like interests, and be notified of
friends' activities and pages they elect to follow.

Facebook was designed to be open and social. However, while the platform
encourages publicly available content, it also has privacy controls that can
restrict access to, for instance, friends.

Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he went to Harvard

University. Today, it is owned by Meta Platforms (of which Zuckerberg is
CEO). Facebook is the world's largest social network, with about 3 billion
active users.3

Instagram

Instagram is a social network that focuses on sharing visual media like

photos and videos. It's similar to Facebook in that users create a profile and
have a news feed. It allows users to upload media that can be edited
with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can
be shared publicly or with followers.

Users can browse other users' content, view trending content, and follow
other users. They can add others' content to their personal feed. Over time,
Instagram has added new features, such as Instagram Stories, Instagram
Reels, and access to shopping. Like Facebook, Instagram encourages users
to keep their content publicly accessible but it also lets them set access to
approved followers only.

Instagram has its own direct messaging feature. In addition, Facebook

Messenger has been incorporated by Instagram so users can direct message
Facebook contacts while in Instagram.

Instagram was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. In 2012,
it was acquired by Meta Platforms (the former Facebook). Today, Instagram
has around 1.5 billion active users.3

Twitter

Twitter is a social network that allows people to communicate with short

messages called tweets. Tweets are limited by the social platform to 280
characters. Users post tweets that may be useful, interesting, or even
inflammatory for readers.

Others use Twitter to find people and companies posting appealing,

important, or newsworthy content. Once users discover others who pique
their interest, they can follow them and receive their ongoing stream of tweets
in their feeds.

Tweeting is sometimes referred to microblogging. It's distinguished by users'

ability to scan and distribute content quickly, conveniently, and easily. This
may account for its popularity with those who want (or need) to get lots of
messages out to the world and those who want to follow such socialistas (or
vital sources of crucial information).

Twitter is used by professional and citizen journalists, politicians, celebrities,

marketers, and more. It was founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass,
Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. It is owned by Twitter, Inc. and its CEO is
Parag Agrawal. In 2021, Twitter had about 430 million users. That number is
expected to rise to almost 500 million by 2025.4
Pinterest

Pinterest is a social networking site that promotes image saving and sharing
using a virtual pinboard. It's an innovative platform that facilitates the
cataloguing and organizing of meaningful information for individuals.

With Pinterest, account holders find images by browsing the web or Pinterest
itself. They then pin (or save) those images to an online pinboard. Multiple
pinboards can be set up and organized, based on a topic.

Once they've created and built their boards to catalogue ideas and interests,
users can access them whenever they want. Clicking on the image reveals
related information.

As with other social networks, Pinterest users have a feed that exhibits
images according to their interests. They can interact by "liking" images,
following each other, and posting comments. There's also a feature that
provides for private messaging.

Pinterest was created by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp in

2009. It's owned by Pinterest, Inc. and its CEO is Bill Ready. As of 2022,
Pinterest has approximately 433 million active users.5

Special Considerations
There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to social networking marketing
strategies. That's because every business is unique and has a different target
demographic, history, and competitive marketplace.

Social networking companies want businesses to pay for their advertising.

That's why platforms often restrict a business' reach and the number of
responses it may receive through unpaid posts. For example, if a company
has 500 followers, followers may not all receive the same post.

 
The constantly evolving nature of social networking makes it challenging to
keep up with changes, and also influences a company’s marketing success
rate.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking

Social networking has the ability to affect individuals and corporations
positively and negatively. That's why it's important to weigh the advantages
and disadvantages of using these social media sites before getting too
heavily involved.

Advantages

 Social networking allows individuals to make and stay in contact with

family and friends that distance and lost connections would otherwise
prohibit.
 People can also connect with unknown individuals who share the same
interests and develop new relationships.
 Social networking also allows companies to connect with new and
existing clients.
 They can use social media to create, promote, and increase brand
awareness.
 Companies can capitalize on customer reviews and comments that
promote products, services, and their brands. The more that customers
post about a company, the more valuable the brand authority can
become. This can lead to greater sales and a higher ranking by search
engines.
 Social networking can help establish a brand as legitimate, credible,
and trustworthy.
 Companies may use social networking to demonstrate the quality of
their customer service and enrich their relationships with consumers.
For example, if a customer complains about a product or service on
Twitter, the company may address the issue immediately, apologize,
and take action to make it right.

Disadvantages

 Social networking can facilitate the spread of misinformation about

individuals and companies.
 Due to its online nature, falsehoods can spread like wildfire. This
became increasingly prevalent after 2012. One study found that
misinformation is 70% more likely than factual information to be shared
on Twitter.6
 The detrimental impact of misinformation can create a virtual headache
for a company's public relations (PR) department.
 The anonymous aspect of newfound personal relationships requires
caution.
  Building and maintaining a company profile takes hours each week.
Costs add up quickly.
 Businesses need many followers before a social media marketing
campaign starts generating a positive return on investment (ROI). For
example, submitting a post to 15 followers does not have the same
effect as submitting the post to 15,000 followers.

Pros
 Allows people to connect with others, including friends and family
 Companies can reach new and existing clients as well as build and
strengthen their brand
 Corporations can demonstrate their customer service excellence

Cons
 Helps spread misinformation
 Complaints about companies can spread and create public relations
issues
 Costs to advertise and develop corporate profiles can be high
 User anonymity can require caution

Examples of Social Networking

Almost every product or service you use is backed by a company with a
social media presence. It's virtually impossible to think of any major
corporation that doesn't operate, market, and advertise on social networks.

Tapping into social media is not only a good business practice, it's necessary
if you're going to succeed in the corporate world. Here are two examples of
companies that are doing it right.

Taco Bell

Popular fast-food chain Taco Bell has more than 1.4 million followers on

Instagram and nearly 2 million followers on Twitter. The company knows how
to engage people on social media, posting content about its menu offerings,
employees, and restaurants. Taco Bell also posts light-hearted tweets and
Instagram posts that garner thousands of replies, retweets, and likes.78

Taco Bell lobbied for a taco emoji by creating a petition on Change.org in

2014. The company spread the word on social media. The petition garnered
33,000 signatures from Taco Bell enthusiasts. Apple released the taco emoji
in October 2015 when it released iOS 9.1.9
Kylie Jenner

You don't have to be a corporation to use social media expertly. This is, after
all, the age of the influencer. Kylie Jenner has more than 314 million followers
on Instagram, 36.4 million followers on Snapchat, and 39.6 million followers
on Twitter.101112

The young influencer and reality television star uses her social media
platforms to boost her image and brand name. She is also an entrepreneur
who uses social networking to promote her business, Kylie Cosmetics.

The beauty brand earned her a spot on Forbes' list of self-made

women, young billionaires, and the Celebrity 100 of 2020.13 Want proof of
her reach? The company's lip kits sold out within 10 minutes of the star
tweeting the link to her followers in February 2016.14

What Is the Purpose of Social Networking?

Social networking connects individuals and businesses by allowing them to
share information, ideas, and messages. Companies also use social
networks to create and strengthen brand recognition, promote products and
services, and answer customer queries and concerns.

What Are the Benefits of Social Networks?

The benefits of social networks include their ability to help people connect
and stay in touch with family, friends, and new contacts; the opportunity they
offer businesses to market their brands; their ability to spread useful, even
vital, information instantly to individuals and institutions.

Why Are Social Networks Important?

Social networks are important because they allow people to develop
relationships that might not be possible due to distances of place and time.
They also helps boost business productivity when used for public relations,
marketing, and advertising purposes.

What Are the Top 10 Social Networking Sites?

According to Statista, the top 10 social networking sites as of January 2022
were Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, Facebook
Messenger, Douyin, QQ, and Sina Weibo.3

The Bottom Line

Social networking involves the use of online social media platforms to
connect with new and existing friends, family, colleagues, and businesses.
Individuals can use social networking to announce and discuss their interests
and concerns with others who may support and otherwise interact with them.

Businesses can use social networking to build a brand, sell products, grow a
customer base, and strengthen customer relationships and service.

Social networking may have certain disadvantages, but its benefits—

including giving individuals and companies a method to spread messages
instantly—make it a technology that will continue to be used and developed
for years to come.

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