Five ways to expand your social network

One of the most difficult things about a social circle is how lonely it can become. Networking becomes relevant if you are meeting the right people, with the right things to share and perhaps even the right assistance to give, should the need arise. Relevance is the key to social success in the virtual world, and if you are looking to build a social network which offers even the basic satisfaction of social behaviour, it can only happen if you approach the kind of people with whom you share similar interests, inclinations and habits.

Your page on mainstream social media may boast of bold numbers in terms of your friend list, followers etc. However the unanswered question is – Does the “social” in social network really appeal to you? The act of mindlessly connecting with people on social media might prove to be a futile exercise, if your voice doesn’t reach the appropriate audience. Your social network must provide you a platform for your voice to be audible, complementing your personality and interests. Only then does the true meaning of ‘the Social Network’ come through.

If you find your faith in mainstream social media steadily dwindling, and you are keen to expand your social authority, we bring you five new and exciting ways to help you socialize, in the true sense of the word:

Tinder

The recently famous dating app reaches more than 750 million young hearts, keen to connect with a similar being in the vicinity. It’s the easiest way to find someone near you who is interested/attracted. Indeed, the principle is to suggest some people who can match your criteria in the exact geographical area you are standing in right at this moment.

It is mostly used by 18-34 year-old men (and obviously women, but the fairer sex always treads more carefully on unknown tides). Tinder is a magic contact point for this seemingly elusive population. You can download this app and start meeting people with common interests.

Smartican

Smarten up your social network with Smartican. It is a comprehensive social media and open social networking portal that connects people with similar or conflicting interests. Available on web and on Android, Smartican is slowly changing the landscape of social media, giving it more meaning through "Topic" based networking.

Complete strangers from all over the world are meeting on Smartican through their interest in common topics. Smartican today has 240,000 sign ups. Consumers are connecting with Smartican and 500,000 topics are being discussed on the networking portal with 200,000 daily active visits.

With its very own native video sharing platform Smartiwood, even video sharing has become convenient as now you don’t have to use 3^rd party video sharing websites and tag those links here. So now you have a platform to speak your heart out and you know your audience is actively listening and will probably respond with equal gusto.

Secret

Secret is an app that allows people to share messages anonymously within their circle of friends, friends of friends, and publicly. It differs from other anonymous sharing apps in that it is intended for sharing primarily with friends and friends of friends within one’s own social network, potentially making it an interesting guessing game, and therefore addictive for people reading the updates.

This app enables you to share secret posts, join conversations and give your opinion, chat privately and make new friends unlocking a world of discovery to be undertaken by the most curious of minds.

Nimbuzz ‘Masque’

The team behind Masque intends to do precisely that. Masque is a free anonymous & unique application, which helps you discover interesting people to chat with. Without revealing your identity (unless you have fallen for a mask) you can chat, flirt, discuss or debate on any topic anytime you want while staying anonymous.

You can connect with multiple strangers & chat with them at the same time. Share selfies and audio notes without fear for they will self-destruct after they have viewed once. So be in control of the conversation, terminate it with a single touch and nobody gets hurt.

Hootsuite

“Multitasking is a lie” said Gary Keller but we have to disagree on this one with him, because here is an app to manage all your mainstream social media websites under one roof. Hootsuite is a dashboard offering a one-stop social media management system for 10 million users already.

Once installed on your device, you can publish and schedule messages, monitor mentions and conversations about your brand, and track analytics. This enables you to stay connected with you existing mainstream social media platforms and allows you to manage them all conveniently. It then saves you time so that you can build your newer, more relevant audience and still keep a tab on your existing ones.