The future of the web certain looks to be headed in a social direction and our hometown of Bellevue, WA is becoming all to familiar with them.. These days, people go online to view videos and to interact with one another in ways that can’t be matched by commenting on blogs or posting in forums.

The problem for many is that many social networking sites are congested and are starting to lose their appeal. For those who are tired of the more mainstream social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or LinkedIn, there are still plenty of others to try out.

Here are several new sites on the rise:

Tumblr

Tumblr made waves recently when they were acquired by Yahoo. Tumblr is a microblogging site with a social element to it. Users can post interesting links, pictures, videos or blog posts with relevant tags.

Other users can then search, sometimes using the same tags on these posts, to find content that interests them. If they choose, they can “reblog” what they find to their own Tumblr accounts.

While there is not as much direct interaction on Tumblr as other sites, it is still social in nature with one user being able to follow another. Tumblr also allows for users to integrate their Facebook and Twitter accounts to spread their content further.

Gentlemint

Pinterest is growing quickly, but is mainly a female dominated site. For men who find the visual aspect of Pinterest interesting, but not the content, there is Gentlemint.

Instead of “pinning” content, users can “tack” it. While the site functions much the same as Pinterest, it has a different look and feel that is akin to social bookmarking websites.

The site has a more manly feel to it, with pictures of weapons, different memes and other pieces of content that tend to appeal to men more than women.

It is in beta at the moment, and users need an invitation to join, but signing up requires an email address and the patience to wait for an invitation.

Tagged

Tagged is similar to other social networking sites in that it allows people to meet one another online, to play games and chat.

While originally launched with the aim of providing a social network for junior high and high school aged users, it is open to people of all ages.

deviantART

Like the name suggests, deviantART is a site for photographers and other artists that produce content of a visual nature. It has profiles, the ability for users to upload a gallery of their work, journals for users to keep blogs with their thoughts or to send messages to the community and a commenting system to allow other users to leave notes on other profiles.

It is aimed at all ages, but is likely not suitable for many teenagers as some content is not safe for work. While all the content is of an artistic nature, some parents would surely object to their kids being on the site and exposed to some of the art being showcased on some profiles.

If you are unsure of whether your business should be targeting users on these new social media sites, while we may provide quality web design in Bellevue as well as Kirkland, we have you covered when it comes to your social media marketing.