4. SHARING INFORMATION

 4.SHARING INFORMATION

 We can define social networks as virtual environments for communication, interaction and the sharing of resources. They can be divided into two groups: horizontal orr general social networks and vertical or thematic social networks.

4.1 Horizontal social networks

 

The most popular examples of horizontal networks are:

• Facebook:this application allows group of 'friends' to publish both public and private messages with text,links,news,photos and video.Facebook can also be used by companies to give information about their activities,advertise products and communicate more directly with customers.

•  Twitter: users publish short text messages with no more than 140 characters, which is called microblogging. One of the most interesting function is using hashtags to follow interesting events or topics.

•   Google+:This social network allows users to create 'circles' of friends in order to share information.They can share photos ans form public or   private communities.

4.2 Vertical social networks

• Sharing profesional information: Linkedin .

• Sharing general information: FriendFeed

• Sharing photos: Instagram, picassa…

•  Sharing videos: Youtube, Dailymotion…

• Live streaming: Skype, Livestream…

• There are many other services related to spots, cinema, books and other topics.

What is live streaming?

 Live streaming is a technique for sharing very large audio and video files.This system make streaming the perfect medium for live transmissions.