I love Facebook. I joined way back in it’s infancy in 2003 (after a failed stint on Friendster — does anyone still use that site?), and its been wild to watch Facebook evolve into the social media sharing utility that it is today.
But Facebook doesn’t ALWAYS cut it for me. Some cool stuff that I’m interested in inevitably ends up being buried underneath someone’s 10 million quiz results re: “What would be your favorite ice cream flavor if you were a Marxist philosopher stranded on a desert island after your hot air balloon crashed?” I just can’t get my fill of music videos, book reviews, newspaper articles and photos that my friends are trying to share with me, because these updates get lost in the black hole of the feed.
Fortunately for me, there are plenty of “niche” social networking sites to keep me going. Here are some great sites I found out about from PC Magazine:
- BallHype – A social networking site for sports lovers of all kinds, from the NBA to MLB to MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).
- Fotolog – Share one single photo every day with photo-philes around the world. This site has a huge international following.
- GLEE – An LGBT social networking community for “Gays, Lesbians and Everyone Else.”
- Motortopia – This site caters to car enthusiasts, but also welcomes social networkers who want to talk about bikes, boats or planes.
- MuggleSpace – For anyone who loves Harry Potter.
- MyDogSpace – Share stories and pictures of your favorite canine on this social networking site for dog lovers. (Cat lovers such as yours truly can join the sister site, MyCatSpace.)
- Ravelry – A community for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners and dyers who want to track yarn, tools and patterns, and share ideas and inspiration.
- GoodReads – My favorite yet! GoodReads is a great tool to keep track of the books you’ve read, and to share your ratings and reviews with your friends. It also helps you set up book groups and share copies of books you own.
So have some fun! Branch out into some new niche social networking sites. Maybe I’ll run into you there~
Tags: Social Media, Tech
Rachel
