5 Most Addictive Social Media Sites

People like to talk about social media sites in terms the amount of traffic sent by getting on the front page, backlinks, profile backlinks, and passing pagerank.

Social media addiction
Image credit: sara.musico

Today, we’re going to have a little fun with it. We’re going to take the web 1.0 metric of time on site and go a little more touchy feely with it for a web 2.0 world. Trust me, this will be fun. Here is a list of my top 5 favorite most addictive sites within social media. Perhaps they aren’t even my favorite, but rather that I can’t seem to get myself off of them 🙂

Plurk

Plurk addictionThere’s a reason that people are taking a long hard look at Plurk, some of them even migrating or at least spending more time there than on Twitter. Two words: Instant gratification. As if Twitter wasn’t instant gratification enough to type in 140 character points and responses, Twitter has fallen from some people’s obsession list as Plurkers seem heavily engaged, providing rapid threaded responses. It isn’t uncommon to see dozens of responses to a Plurk in 15 minutes – something you’ll never see on Twitter unless your name is Guy or Scoble. What’s worse (best?) is that Plurk’s karma, a key factor in its addictiveness, will actually go down if you’re inactive for a while. Oh, and don’t Plurk too much, the safe Plurking habits guide recommends no more than 30 Plurks per day. Brilliant.

Twitter

Twitter addictionOnce you’ve found interesting people to follow and have a following, Twitter is an awesome place. Also helpful is to be watching some search tools and have a good client (I’m big on using Twitterfox and Hahlo for the iPhone). It’s great for asking questions, looking for resources on a project, and keeping up with what people are doing.
Breaking news can often be found on Twitter as well. And yes, it has been criticized for its uptime performance – the same people that are hitting the refresh button every 2 minutes while Twitter is down 🙂 Yeah, it’s that addictive.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon addiction

It’s been around considerably longer than many people think. StumbleUpon is one of my favorite sites due to all the great finds I get through it. SU is a true discovery engine, something that if positioned correctly can give traditional search a true run for its money. StumbleUpon is doing something right, and people are taking notice. I’m a big fan of what they have done with SearchReviews (now in Yahoo as well), putting in your friends stumble ratings right on the SERPS.

Facebook

Facebook Addict

I know what you’re thinking. Facebook is for kids. It’s annoying. It invades my privacy. Say what you will, but with facebook chat, a few addictive apps, and seeing people on there that mainly stay off other social sites (read: have a life off the computer), Facebook is still a daily mainstay for me. It’s a great way to connect with people that you haven’t seen in years, and you can quickly get lost in time through all the possibilities.

Digg

Digg Addict MrBabyMan
Image credit: Valleywag

Say what you will. Digg has its issues, but for me, it’s still something I’m checking out throughout the day. While Digg has its challenges and critics, it really is a great place to find a wealth of content (and finally has a new comment system). Yes, a lot of it is just funny/linux/apple, but there really is a lot of good stuff.

There are several others that just missed the list for me: Mixx, Reddit, LinkedIn and FriendFeed, just to name a few. Reason is that I’m finding with the demands of my total addict sites, I’m just not spending time on these other sites every day consistently.

Which social sites are you finding the most addictive?

38 thoughts on “5 Most Addictive Social Media Sites”

  1. I have to admit, I have seen many people who are addicted to Plurk. It is time consuming, but not nearly as much as Facebook or Digg.

    I’m personally a Stumble addict, but that’s neither here nor there.

  2. Im with JD, StumbleUpon is my fav and I am still searching for the magic behind Plurk. And Twitter is def in my top five because its applications for business and pleasure.

  3. Dang what a great post, definitely some social media sites I need to get involved in here. Just also wanted to say what a great job CT (collective thoughts) has done in producing some extremely great content.

    StumbleUpon is my biggest addiction.

  4. Guilty! I’m addicted to all of these. Plurk is the latest.

    Any day when you need get some serious work done, all these sites need to be banned from your computer.

  5. Man, do I hate Twitter. I can’t imagine the time I will be losing at a day if I’m active on that platform. I never heard of Plurk before. Better check that one out!

  6. Now this is just too funny and yet somewhat accurate. The social vortex can suck you in. i tell you one thing. i can already tell that fav.or.it will replace digg for me.

    sent from: fav.or.it [FID177524]

  7. Personally, I find Mixx to be by far the most addictive social media site, mostly due to Mixx’s superior user experience. I would go so far as to rank Mixx ahead of 4 of the 5 sites listed, the exception being Plurk, of which I have only recently heard of and had not yet set up an accout.

  8. @that jon jackson: haha, the matrix has you 🙂

    @JD Rucker: Stumble addiction is a must. This post was pretty much built around me thinking about Stumble.

    @MrCooker: careful, Digg will totally draw you in 🙂

    @Marc: yes, Stumble is great. Dive into the Plurk community more and you’ll see why everyone is chattering about it.

    @Yuine: but of course 🙂

    @zaibatsu: looks like you posted it anyway, many thanks! 🙂

    @Mack: glad you liked the post, and we appreciate your remarks about the CT community!

    @ThinkingSerious: I think these sites are too addictive and unban themselves:)

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  10. uh..I stumbled this site and it was my “just one more before i go to sleep”
    damn stumble upon..

  11. ajay shrestha

    been using stumbleupon for quite a few years mate. fantastic site it is,helps u find great sites. am a bit addicted to it.
    anyway thanx for giving other sites…

  12. heh, stumbled this one, too. it was the first of my “couple of stumbles before i get dressed to go to work”. anyway, i’m only addicted to stumble out of the ones you listed here. but even more than stumble, i’m completely addicted to last.fm. i know it’s more than a basic social platform, but what i find uncanny is how it gets people addicted through the sheer power of numbers and stats it generates.

  13. I’m addicted to facebook, stumbleupon, and mixx.

    Facebook: great applications and I can connect with friends that I don’t see anymore.

    Stumblupon: fast and random, I love that and you can select categories to better fit you.

    Mixx: I hate digg because it is too slow for me, Mixx is much faster and less spammy.

    I haven’t try plurk and twitter yet, but will definitely give it a try.

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  15. The question how to manage your time 1 hour on Digg, every 2 hours on twitter, twice a day on Facebook, till I fall asleep on Stumbleupon and breakfast with Fark and Slashdot.

  16. **Raising my hand** I’m pretty much signed up to each and every social media site you just described. I have a profile with at least 150 friends. In real life my life counts about 3 friends *sigh** perhaps instead of surfing I should get outside to get some real life friends.

  17. I found this post on google cause its currently #1 for “Most Addictive Social Media Sites.”

    Anyway, there are soo many to choose from already its a bit daunting for non-techs like myself.

    I just started using LinkedIn and find it highly useful and definitely a bit addictive at times. And all the comments here have been great, I hope to check out some of these other top social media hang-outs soon.

  18. Facebook is doing very well. It is now the second most visited site after Google having overtook Yahoo. Looks like Facebook is going from strength to strength.

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