Social media in the form of social networking and online social bookmarking are incredibly popular these days. But it’s hard to know which social media platform is right for you if you haven’t tried all of them. That’s why so many Internet users find reviews of these type of sites so helpful.

When you read the reviews, though, you may find vastly different judgments about their content. Some people would defend their social media choices to the bitter end. That’s probably because the site they fell in love with is one of the few they tried and all their time was taken up with one site before they knew what was happening. Many who are asssertive about defending one site aren’t aware of the variations Online social networks , like LibraryThing, have everything from chats, book reviews and online bookshelves.

People often don’t know the distinction between one form of social network and another because there is a tremendous amount of cross-over in the platforms. For example, Facebook can be used for business or pleasure. And there are literally tens of thousands of Ning sites, such as papercraftplanet.ning, which specialize in narrow niches. These type of [online social networking] sites are significant due to their emphasis on people’s niche interests. Interests can be as specific as book aficionados, who now have many online communities geared just to them. social networking is social bookmarking, which has become a standard for people who work and play on the Web. Social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us allow people to save their favorite bookmarks so they can access them online any time. This platform type is also great for people who conduct searches, because searches are greatly enhanced by tagging. This ability also makes these sites tremendous for Internet marketers, because backlinks result from the use of bookmarks. The individual links aren’t that meaningful but when you add them all together, they become influential in search engine rankings. Also, like with Mixx, if a blog post is entered on one of these sites, top search engine rankings can be had for that page if it has good keyword tags and was submitted properly.

Another powerful form of online social networking is social bookmarking, which has become very popular. Social bookmarking sites like Mister Wong allow people to save their favorite bookmarks so they can access them online any time. This platform type is also great for people who conduct searches, because keyword tags that allow for easy searching can be assigned to each bookmark. The ability to use keyword tagging also is of value to Web marketers, who use them to garner backlinks for their blog posts and Web sites. One social bookmark doesn’t really mean anything in terms of backlinks but in aggregate, they matter. Also, like with Propeller, if a blog post is entered on one of these sites, top search engine rankings can be had for that page if it has good keyword tags and was submitted correctly.

Social media boundaries become even less defined on sites like Digg, which feature both social networking and bookmarking. They are used for bookmarking but also are equally powerful for marketing and socializing. Many new business contacts and friends are just waiting to be found on these platforms and links posted to these online social networking platforms sometimes rank well in the search engines. This makes these type of sites genuine gold to Internet marketers.