By Dennis Powell, e-Management

With a focus on music, the new Myspace is very different from the anything goes social media site that dominated the Internet before the Facebook and Twitter era.

Thirty years ago, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” from his landmark Thriller album—the biggest selling record in history—was the No. 1 song on the radio, in record stores, and at most house parties. The date movies of the time were Flashdance, Spring Break, and Tootsie. The top video game in arcades was Mario Bros. Families were gathering around the tube watching Top 10 shows like the A-Team, Dallas, Dynasty, and Three’s Company. Being social was different back then.

Enter social media.
Today, social calendars have become online affairs. It seems like every celebrity has Twitter to promote her or his fabulous existence. Much to the chagrin of many teenagers, every parent has Facebook and some are even addicted to the many online games. And yes, every rising professional or fast-track entrepreneur has a LinkedIn profile, and uses the social site to advance her or his network and net worth. More than 500 million users are connecting in Google+ circles and hangouts. Let’s not forget the charismatic and sometimes self-absorbed people with YouTube channels—not that there’s anything wrong with that. 

Without a doubt, social media is changing the way we are being social. People are using Facebook to send birthday gifts, set up special events, share photos, and reconnect with friends (and “frenemies”) from yesteryear. Others are using social networking like Twitter to broadcast the mundane and exciting moments of their lives and of course tuning into epic celebrities feuds. Movie, television, comedy, and music lovers are gathering on YouTube to talk about their favorite media. YouTube has become such a force in our society that Billboard magazine recently announced that YouTube streaming data is now being used to determine chart positions of the most popular songs. Wow!

There are so many ways to be social.
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+ are only the tip of the social media iceberg. We’ve compiled a short list of other sites that may help you become more connected in the brave and new world of online interaction.

1. DeviantART: Believe it or not, this social media site has been around since 2000. Who knew? If you are an artist or have artistic sensibilities, this is a great place to be “social.” The community is more than 25 million strong. For folks who like a youthful vibe, this is the perfect online social network since more than half of its users are 25 years old or younger. The site is a great platform to display art and literature. Like other social media sites, it is interactive complete with polls and interest groups.
2. : This award-winning (Social Media App Webby Award) social media site prides itself on being the place “for collecting and organizing things you love.” Right now, women are the prime users of Pinterest. Roughly 4 out of 5 users are women. The social media site is image-driven allowing users to place photos or videos on a virtual pin-board, categorize the media, and have conversations around them. Popular topics include recipes, fashion, travel, art, and gifts. Registration is easy. Facebook or Twitter users will have the added benefit of being logged into Pinterest whenever they are active on either of the sites.
3. : The new Myspace is very different from the anything goes social media site that dominated the Internet before the Facebook and Twitter era. Instead, Myspace is the new “it” place for people to “discover, share, and connect to music from the world’s largest streaming library.” Music lovers should appreciate the heavy emphasis on recording artists. Streaming functionality allows users to create playlists, make mixes, or even launch their own radio stations. Myspace also allows registered users to upload media and have conversations with friends around topics and music that inspire.
4. : For people who love blogging and bloggers finding it difficult to build an audience, Tumblr might be the perfect social media site. With more than 104 million blogs, this site allows users to share blogs easily, which helps blog postings to go viral and get more views. Case in point, millions saw the following the presidential debates of 2012, thanks to the ease of sharing blog postings. Tumblr goes out of the way to make posting content easy. For instance, users can do an audio post by calling a toll-free number and their friends will hear the posting almost immediately. Tumblr also allows users to connect to Google Analytics and check to see how well postings are performing with followers.
5. : Like Pinterest, Instagram is all about the visual. People who love to take spur of the moment pictures are power users on Instagram. The site gives users the power to enhance their photos with special “filters” and share them on the network or elsewhere. In fact, Instagram integrates quite nicely with the other social media sites like Facebook and Tumblr. Users use simple # (hashtags) so that their content can be easily found in searches. In some ways, the simplicity of Instagram may just make the networking site the most accessible or even the most “social” among social media tools. Think about it, users can track their friends’ interactions during work, school, vacation, parties, etc. Plus, users can send their votes of confidence and approval by liking photos and adding comments on other social media sites. With more than 100 million active users, Instagram may be on its way to becoming the preferred way to share and interact with photos online.

It’s time to hear from you.
People are spending a lot of time being social online. According to Nielsen’s 2012 Social Media Report, people spent more than 62 billion minutes accessing Facebook alone last year. So, (1) how much time are you spending on social media sites? (2) How is social media affecting the quality of your offline (and online) relationships? (3) What are your favorite social media sites?