Other Bricks in the Wall

These networks are happy to let you sign in through Facebook or Twitter and post simultaneously on both the forums. However,if you are worried about privacy,these might not be the best networks.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard,where you can “pin” things you find interesting,from strawberry French toast recipes to bookshelf designs to funny animal antics. Cleverly,it uses several columns to show what people have pinned,which means less scrolling,more ogling. Users can like,repin or comment on pins. It offers you a handy “Pin It” button while signing up,which lets you pin items from any website.

However,all is not well with the sign-up process. Based on a list of your interests in your profile Pinterest makes you follow several users by default. So you have to un-follow each one of them manually in case you want to. It might be more convenient to have a lot of pins to look at,but several unknown people will automatically follow you and look at your pins. Pinterest is good for objects or ideas you want to show off,but is not suitable for anything personal.

It also pushes you to shop. Recent statistics show that Pinterest drives more people to shopping websites than any other social network. It tracks whether you purchase products after finding them on Pinterest and gets paid for it. There is nothing wrong with this,but people have a right to know who gets paid by their “sharing”.

Path

Let’s face it,mobile apps for most popular social networking websites are disappointing,especially on the Android. The Facebook app is heavy and it’s tough to choose from Twitter’s myriad clients. Path,an Android and iPhone-only social network,hits the sweet spot between eye candy and usability. Very rarely do we come across an app that is equally well-designed on both Android and iOS. Path is based on moments,as opposed to pins or posts. This network wants you to share your life,as a journal,with your friends. You can record each moment of your life — there are options for sleeping,waking up,where you are,who you’re with,etc. The best feature of Path is that it replaces the like button with five smileys. You can now smile,laugh or frown. Facebook users who are clamouring for a dislike button should like the choices on Path. You can keep a post private by touching the lock icon,or you can share your moments on Facebook,Twitter,Foursquare,etc. simultaneously. The settings menu deserves mention too. You can choose whether you want to receive notifications via email or on your phone.

What’s a social networking site without controversy? Path uploaded iPhone users’ contact lists to its servers without their consent. In the furore that followed,the site issued an apology and promptly added an option asking for permission. This option prompts you every time you want to search for friends.

Chill

Video-sharing website Chill has been around for a while. However,its recent redesign has made it look just like a Pinterest for videos. It also has smileys instead of a like button — just like Path. If you do not mind the mash-up,then head to Chill,sign in with Facebook and get ready to spend hours watching videos. Seamless integration into existing social networking giants clearly works well for these websites.

The privacy concerns are the same as with Pinterest and whenever you sign in with Facebook,it explicitly asks for permission to use your Facebook data. You can choose to deny,which is a little annoying as there seems to be no option to save preferences.