7 New & Different Social Networking Apps & Services

Let me ask you one question. Which is the most used app on your smartphone? Chances are, it is a social networking and/or free messaging app. Some of these services and apps enjoy huge and worldwide popularity like Facebook, Twitter, Quora, WhatsApp, LINE etc.

You already know about most of them. Let me now tell you about some social-networking services that are new and have very different approaches to social networking. And I'm proud to mention here that many of the services listed below are 'made in India.' That is, envisioned and developed in India and by Indians.

So let's begin:

Glynk: For connecting with like-minded people

Glynk is a very new social networking app. It might feel like a cross between Facebook and Quora. The unique point of Glynk is that it has been designed to help the users get connected with other like-minded people from around the world. The app achieves this by making the users select their interests and then express their opinion through fun and interesting multiple choice questions. Based on the selected interests and the opinions expressed, Glynk automatically connects users to other like-minded people who have same interests and similar opinions. Because the process is automatic, there's no need of sending and accepting connection requests. As the user expresses more opinions, his or her network gets more enhanced and fine-tuned. The app uses Facebook login as a security measure against fake users. There are even measures in place to exclude fake Facebook profiles. Also, although the app allows personal messages, these are only restricted to people who share 80% or above of matched interests and opinions. The app also restricts the content that users can post. Things like uploading of personal photos are not allowed. The users can only do things like ask a question, post a recommendation etc. Basically give opinions. We Indians love giving opinions, don't we? Well, here is an app that helps the users to do just that. Ask opinions and give opinions. That might make it feel similar to Quora. But Glynk is more casual and using it feels like lingering in a recreation club with a random group of strangers, all engaged in casual chit-chat about various topics.

NearGroup: For connecting with people of the same locality.

This is another brand new Made in India social networking app. The unique point of NearGroup is that it has been designed to help the users in connecting with people of their own locality. It too allows registering using only Facebook login. The reason is that Facebook has in place lots of security measures and so using Facebook login is more secure. Anyway, during setup, the NearGroup asks the users to input their locality details. And then, the app automatically connects the users with the group of their locality. This means, the user becomes connected with all the users of the app living in the same locality. The advantage of that is that users can ask local recommendations and advice, for example regarding doctors, electrician etc. from even strangers living the the same community. The disadvantage is that not all of these strangers might be good and safe as a contact. So user discretion is advised while communicating with other users in the locality group. As the app is new, it does not have many users yet. But it was quick to recognize localities of even Ghaziabad. Over all, sounds like quite a good and useful idea. I do hope it will succeed.

Bakfy: Only for students

Bakfy is a social networking app restricted for the use of students. When a students registers on Bakfy using Facebook login or the college email, the app instantly connects the user to other users of the app from the same college. The idea of the app is very interesting and might end up being a lot of fun as only students can use it. And students know how to have fun, right? Unfortunately, although over a year old, the app does not seem to be gaining much popularity. Its Google Play page still shows 1000-5000 installs and even its website is not showing up. That might indicate a decline and eventual discontinuation for this app.

Confess: For anonymous networking

Confess might be a social networking app that many would like using, but none would probably confess of doing so. The unique feature of Confess is that it keeps the users anonymous. Although the app needs the users to register using Facebook or Google login, it keeps the users anonymous by showing only their usernames. Users can make contacts with other users too. It often happens that we can share things with a stranger that we cannot share with our own family. And that is mainly how Confess helps users. Anybody can download the app for free and unburden their heart and seek advice and suggestions from strangers. However, as it is anonymous, the app feed might be full of all kinds of messages. People had already started posting all kinds of photos on it when I had reviewed it. I don't know how the scene is now. But unless the developers have put into practice some measures to weed off such dirty messages, the Confess feed might appear too full of unwelcome messages and images for many users. Certainly not for children unless some posting restrictions have been put into place now.

Lettrs: For the joy of writing beautiful letters and messages for private or public audience

The Lettrs is not exactly a social networking app. But it does help people in making connections. The idea behind Lettrs is to restore the magic of letter writing. It allows users to compose beautiful letters by using the app's various backgrounds, fonts and stamps. The lettrs created can be emailed to anybody, shared with other Lettrs users or even sent as a physical letter. I tried it last year and absolutely loved the beauty of it. It's a pity that I no longer use it as I have no free time for composing meaningful letters. However, not just writing, it is also fun reading the letters posted by others. Among the users of the app, there are people who have the gift of beautiful words. Many of them are professional writers even. To highlight such writers, the app showcases them as Featured. Users post beautiful messages, poems and thoughts on lettrs and seek comfort by venting out their innermost feelings in letters and finding wisdom and comfort in letters created by others. The user interface is very easy and it is lot of fun to browse through the lettrs created by other users. You can even make PenPals on it. It is a high quality app. The lettrs service is also available on its website. The data and lettrs of the users get seamlessly synced between the app and website.

Check out and download Lettrs (available on website and Android and iOS apps) Expin.me: Much like blogging but with greater creative freedom

This is another service for the creative people, especially writers. Expin is not really social networking, strictly speaking. But you can follow other users and read and like their posts. It is much like blogging. In blogging, you create a website and post on it whatever you want to express. However, you need to be regular at blogging if you want to attract readers. Having a blog is a serious commitment. Expin is different from blogging because it gives space to users to express themselves without having to create a separate website. That is, it collects in one place the expressions of all the users. So any reader browsing through Expin can read and view the works of different people. The process of creating the expression is very different too. Users can use different styles and templates for their different expressions. Whether they just want to post photos or share writings, there's a suitable template for that. The size of the canvas is flexible and you can put images etc. anywhere on the canvas just by drag-and-drop. You can choose different fonts and colours for headlines, sub-headings, paragraphs etc. It even allows users to add customizable and linked buttons anywhere in their posts. These can be used to provide links to Facebook, Twitter etc. or to another website. The buttons can be made smaller or larger as per user's choice. Expin also allows users to create their stories with multiple pages. The best thing about Expin is the flexibility it gives to the user to design the appearance of their stories. Creating a story on Expin is definitely more fun than creating a post on blog. But because there's so much of choice, it also becomes more time consuming.

Expin also allows users to follow other expiners and to create public, private and secret group. These can prove handy for a small group of people wanting to share photos, messages about a topic. For example, college students or residents of a locality or members of a large family. While creating the stories, users need to add suitable tags. This helps other users in browsing through the stories using tags related to their interests. And yes, Expin is made in India.

Vebbler:For showcasing images.

This is also a relatively new and 'made in India' service. When Vebbler first launched, it allowed posting messages as well as images and videos. It encouraged artists, writers and bloggers etc. to join and through mailers, encouraged other users to follow them. However, it has changed its approach now and only allows users to post images. A short message and link can be added with the image. But posting a text message without a photo is not allowed. That makes it feel somewhat like Pinterest. Vebbler also makes it easy for users to create groups or clubs to share their photos among the select group. Other users can react and comment on the posts. Users can choose public, private and select audience before making every post. One unique feature of Vebbler is that the scrolling on Vebbler website is horizontal, not vertical. Vebbler has also launched its smartphone app recently. But I won't be able to say much about that as I haven't tried it.

If you are interested in photography or making cartoons, paintings etc. Vebbler would surely interest you. However, Vebbler doesn't feel quite smooth yet. But going by the quick changes I've seen on it, it might become more smooth and polished soon.

Check out Vebbler

These are some of the social networking apps and websites that I had the opportunity to try over past couple of years. I'm sure there are many others new and different such websites and apps out there. In fact, I can name a few more too like NaviGale that helps in connecting with people who are present nearby. There's also a website called Niume that I had tried last year. As far as I can remember, it is a lot like Pinterest too allowing people to post their messages in different Spheres. It is a good quality and popular website and even helps many people to increase their earning by showcasing their work on Niume. If you know any such newer and 'different' social networking app or website, do let me know. Meanwhile, check out the ones I have mentioned above.