Hi5
If you ask anyone who accesses the internet about social networking sites such as Friendster, MySpace, and the like, you can expect that most of them have an account in at least one of them. That’s the whole thing about social networking nowadays. It is virtually impossible to maintain ties with everyone at once, without the aid of these services. Social networking has grown to be a necessity for a good number of people around the world.
Although getting an account in a social networking website is something on many people’s minds around the world nowadays, it does not necessarily mean that there is one universal site which handles them all. It really depends on where you look, and who you ask. Friendster is known to be a big player in social networking in Asian regions, while MySpace is clearly dominating the United States as of present.
And then there’s Hi5, another online social networking service which has a strong following of its own. Hi5 was developed and ultimately founded by entrepreneur Ramu Yalamanchi, a graduate of Computer Science in the University of Illinois. It is known to be the leading social networking website in such places as Columbia, Cyprus, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Thailand, and Tunisia.
People from these countries actually view and access the site so much that it is a constant player in the top 25 most visited websites on the Internet. There are an estimated 50 million people who are members of this social networking site. It is known as the premier online social networking service for Spanish-speaking internet surfers around the world.
Compared to other social networking sites, the features of Hi5 can be described as simple but exhaustive. It has all the basic needs for people who wish to truly personalize their profiles. Hi5 members can go out of their way to ensure that their profiles are truly descriptive of their personalities in all aspects.
For instance, people who wish to add some of their own ideas in visual appeal on their profiles have the freedom of including html code into them for videos or cursor effects. Hi5 members can also post photos and leave comments on other photos as well. Some even go to the extent of integrating audio tracks onto their profiles to give it its own unique identity. This, combined with the additional features such as the ability to keep a journal or scrapbook, makes hi5 a first choice for many who wish to truly adorn their profiles with who they really are.
Though the network of Hi5 already covers so many people, there are some instances wherein searching is required for some people to be reached or contacted. People who wish to connect with old friends and acquaintances can also join Hi5 to find them, using its own search utility.
Once a potential contact is found, a surfer can go ahead and send the person a message. Hi5 gives the user more options when it comes to getting a person’s attention as well. A visitor can leave a comment on a certain member’s profile, or they can give him or her ‘fives’. These are more profound means of communicating with one another in Hi5, which are usually bent on appreciation – categories such as ‘cute’ and ‘best friend’ are examples of ‘fives.
Though the rest of the world has its own preferred social networking websites, there are still many countries which prefer getting an account in Hi5. Its use as a social networking website is more appreciated in some regions.
