Groucho Marx famously said that he would refuse to join any club that would have him as a member. This, of course, was well before Facebook and Twitter came along.
It’s difficult now to imagine how we coped without social networks. I think even Groucho might have been tempted to sign up!
They make it convenient and simple for us to stay in touch with our friends, to discover news and information and to connect with people from all around the world that share your common interests.
It is also telling that their rise has coincided with the smartphone and features phones too. We like to stay in touch wherever we are, and while we are on the move.
How many networks are enough?
These days it’s nigh on impossible for you to navigate through your digital life without being on a social network. You don’t just have to be part of one ‘club’ but a member of several. You sometimes need a social network account just to login and access a particular website, app or game.
There’s Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and LinkedIn to name a few and not to forget the regional players, such as China’s Sina Weibo, which has over half a billion users.
On top of that there are lots of location, photo and music websites, like Foursquare, Flickr and Spotify, all of which have a social element.
You could even argue that messaging apps like LINE and Nimbuzz are also social networks because they need your friends to be on them for you to get the most out of the app.
Poll
Given the proliferation of all these services, we feel the question to be asked is not, whether you are on a social network, but how many social networks do you belong to?
We’d be interested to know this of our Conversation readers so we’ve created this poll. It’s not scientific and it’s only intended as a bit of fun.
You can count any app or service as being a social network if it connects you in some way with other people and it allows you to contact them or exchange content and information.
As well as voting, let us know what you think in the comments below. Do you think there are too many social networks now? Which one is the most important to you?
We’ll let you know the results in another post next week.