Online Communities for Women Compared to Others
How Online Communities for Women Benefit You
Part of being a successful business woman is participating in some of the multiple online networks that exist. Between joining online communities for women, participating in a women’s social network or two, and developing a presence in the various social media that exist, it can be trying even for an expert. And for women just starting to establish a presence in online social networks, the task of registering and understanding how the various sites work can be intimidating.
Name: www.BraveHeartWomen.Com
Details: Registration for this pinnacle of online communities for women requires an email address and gives access to a variety of discussions, videos, and blogs. Paid access adds a number features and expert sections.
Pros: Rapidly expanding, woman-focused, easy-to-use interface with few distractions, emphasis on inspiration, purpose, and support for any goals.
Cons: Can’t professionally network with men, still in growing stage.
Name: www.facebook.com
Details: The social media giant has free registration, which enables the user to build a network of friends based on similar interests or anything else. Users can create groups, join fan pages, share photos and links, and communicate internal to the system.
Pros: Gigantic membership and easy connection features mean a well-managed profile can be a boon to social and professional connections.
Cons: Mass of features makes use daunting for the novitiate, and professional capacity is muddled by social aspects, advertising, and constant distractions. Also, immaturity can run high in conversations here.
Name: www.LinkedIn.com
Details: Free membership in this professional network lets members post resumes, exchange messages, join specific discussion groups, and build connections based on employers and fields.
Pros: Recruiters, hiring managers, and job-hunters alike have strong presence, so it’s a great way to get feedback, find opportunities, or share ideas.
Cons: Crowding makes it hard to stand out. Information overload and a slightly more complicated interface are also intimidating for many.
Name: www.twitter.com
Details: Easy to join, this is basically just a network for quick communication. User sends “tweets” and anyone “following” that user see the tweet in a live-updating stream. Though superficially simple, advanced use of the professional and marketing capacity becomes increasingly complex.
Pros: Fun, easy to join, following people with similar interests leads to rapid exposure to new ideas.
Cons: Information overload, successful use requires constant vigilance and a consistent presence. Not as good for special interest networking.
The most important piece of advice, and one that can be found repeated across the internet, is that these services are relatively intuitive, so devoting 30 minutes or an hour a day to messing around on them and trying will usually be enough to eventually overcome this lack of familiarity and fear. There are hundreds of networking sites. The following short list presents four of the biggest, most important sites. They are each different, and are more or less useful depending on the particular woman’s goals.
