Social networking refers to using 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, X (formerly 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 billion people using the platform daily, as of Feb 1, 2023.

 Other popular platforms in the U.S. are Instagram, X, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Pinterest.

Social networking uses internet-based social media platforms to connect with friends, family, or peers.

Some of the most popular social networking sites in the U.S. include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and X.

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 spreading misinformation, concerns posed by user anonymity, and the high cost of using and maintaining social network profiles.

The term social networking entails having connections in both the real and the digital worlds. Today, this term is mainly used to reference online social communications. The internet has made it possible for people to find and connect with others who they may never have met otherwise.

Online social networking is dependent on technology and internet connectivity. Users can access social networking sites using their PCs, tablets or smartphones. Most social networking sites run on a back end of searchable databases that use advanced programming languages, such as Python, to organize, store and retrieve data in an easy-to-understand format. For example, Tumblr uses such products and services in its daily operations as Google Analytics, Google Workspace and WordPress.

Social networking fulfills the following four main objectives:

 Friends or family members who are geographically dispersed can connect remotely and share information, updates, photos and videos. Social networking also enables individuals to meet other people with similar interests or to expand their current social networks.

Learning. 

Social networks serve as great learning platforms. Consumers can instantly receive breaking news, get updates regarding friends and family, or learn about what's happening in their community.

Interacting. 

Social networking enhances user interactions by breaking the barriers of time and distance. With cloud-based video communication technologies such as WhatsApp or Instagram Live, people can talk face to face with anyone in the world.

Companies may tap into social networking services to enhance brand awareness with the platform's users, improve customer retention and conversion rates, and promote brand and voice identity.

Facebook is a social network that allows users 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 videos.

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 2 billion daily active users.

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 them to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be shared publicly or with followers.

Like Facebook, Instagram encourages users to keep their content publicly accessible and 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 on Instagram.

X is a social network that allows people to communicate with short messages called tweets. The social platform limits tweets to 280 characters. Users publish posts (formely "tweets") that may be useful, interesting, or even inflammatory for readers.

Many people use X to find people and companies posting appealing, important, or newsworthy content and follow them to receive their stream of tweets for updates.

X is used by professional and citizen journalists, politicians, celebrities, marketers, and more. It was founded as Twitter in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, and was bought by Elon Musk in Oct. 2022. He changed the name to "X" in July 2023. It is now owned by X Corp., one of Elon Musk's holding companies.

Pinterest is a social networking site that promotes image saving and sharing using a virtual pinboard. It's an innovative platform that facilitates cataloging and organizing 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.

Like 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 private messaging.