It is obvious that the world is constantly changing and, consequently, society is looking for new communication mediums to ease interaction. Moreover, individuals, business also, are using these mediums in order to promote their advertising campaigns. 

Firstly, print media, newspapers and magazines were the main channels of communication; also radio and television were a good way to transmit messages orally. However, due to emergence of the Internet and new technologies progress, digital media has been classified as a pioneer when it comes to communicative activity. 

On the Internet, social networks are immense and they embrace very different areas. In fact, you can find basic means of communication, such as Whatsapp, or websites in which you can share information and content, for example the blog Love my senses. The main goal of all these platforms is the same, they try to convey messages both explicitly and implicitly, and instantaneously. 

To continue, the different types of social media are going to be explained and their use is going to be exemplified. 

Traditional social networking sites

These sites, also known as horizontal social networks, are platforms aimed at anyone who has interest in accessing them. They do not have an established topic, nor a common interest. People go into the content with the goal of interacting and communicating with others, giving opinions, getting information and being entertained. As it has been said, all of them offer a wide variety of content and, thus, their users have very different features. 

Some of these well-known social media are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. All of them have something in common and it is the ability to share information and personal opinions; as well as images, videos or just messages with which you can show yourself and  come forward. In fact, in some of them, there is very interesting information offered. This information is related to new ideas, alternatives or tips about fashion, new economic trends, political aspects, or even topics that refer to sexual relations, such as the different sex toys made at home. 

It is interesting to highlight the role of the influencers, a new employment sector, who promote a lot of products and who work every day with these mediums. They usually use Instagram and TikTok in order to come forward, increase their followers and promote products. It is a new form of advertising that helps many firms to promote their products and to communicate with potential consumers. To reach these goals, advertising companies try to get their brand identified with one of these professionals so that their products reach a wider group of people.

Vertical social networks 

These platforms are characterized by the specialization of a specific matter such as music content or labor market, among others. The reach of these mediums is much more limited compared to the previous ones. In these, the audience looks for something particular in order to achieve a goal, for example, looking for job opportunities, listening to music or finding inspiration. 

Some of the most popular ones are the portals in which you can get a job and there, you can also be aware of the different pieces of advice to improve you CV, such as Linkedin or Infojobs; portals in which you can buy and sell different items, for example clothes or books that talk about sexual advice in which you can find information about what should you wear for a tinder date such as 21Buttons or Wallapop; and websites addressed to music or to any kind of inspiration, such as Spotify or Pinterest. 

It is important to bear in mind that on these webs you can also find professionals from different fields. For instance, when using Linkedin, once you have published your CV and your employment preferences, you can find other professionals from the same sector and talk with them in order to broaden your chances of finding a job. Likewise, on Spotify you can find singers or people who do some podcasts promoting their new hits in order to reach a much wider audience. 

Instant messaging social networks 

This medium of communication is often classified with the vertical social networks. Nevertheless, due to the great boom that they have been experiencing during the last years, they have been considered independent enough to be sorted into a separate group. Such their influence has been that many apps that were essential, such as SMS, have almost disappeared. 

Among these networks, the best well-known and common are Whatsapp, whose emergence was in 2009 and now it is one of the most widely used platforms; Line, which is characterized by its wide variety of stickers; and Discord, which was launched in 2015. 

In these type of mediums, the most usual thing is to have an instant contact. Moreover, this contact is very different in all its forms, there can be sent simple text messages, in which day to day issues are handled; sound recordings, for instance hot audios or horniest movies, to liven up a night in which the partner is far away from you; and calls or video calls, in which usually much more relevant matters or which need a clearer answer are discussed. 

To sum up and taking everything into account, nowadays we have a wide range of ways of communication that ease daily life. With these, the activities that can be carried out are as varied as the information that can be given. As it has been said, they are used in order to communicate, promote and entertain.