Which social media site do you use?

It's a silly question, of course - modern internet users would never confine themselves to just one social platform. Each one excels at something different; for example, we use Facebook to stay in touch with our friends, while Twitter is the best way to keep track of your favourite celebrities. LinkedIn is strictly for business, while Google+ communities are a great way of finding people with the same hobbies as you.

This seems like a pretty good system to us, but the biggest names in social media have other ideas. Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus...each one wants to be the social network, and all of them have recently been attempting to expand their horizons and give us everything we could possibly need. Here's how social media moguls seem to be thinking right now:

"If I give them hashtags and trending topics," Mark Zuckerberg reasoned, "they won't need to leave my website to check Twitter! I'll be the King of the Internet!"

This attitude has resulted in a massive online arms race, with everyone plagiarising everyone else's features in a bid to be the one site that really does have everything. It's hard to say whether or not this is a good thing; we are getting some cool new features out of the ongoing social skirmish, but a lot of people liked Twitter (for example) the way it was, and a lot of these changes have gone down like lead balloons.

If you're not entirely sure what we're talking about, here are three features that social media sites have copied from each other recently:

Trends & Hashtags

Who did it first? Twitter, of course - the microblogging site has been utilising hashtags for years. They've been used for serious purposes (like tracking new stories as they develop) and silly purposes (adding a sarcastic bit of commentary to the end of a tweet), but no matter how you use 'em, they'll always be associated with Twitter first and foremost.

Who else is doing it? Pretty much everyone, although Facebook are the most notable plagiarists here. In fairness, everybody was using hashtags in their FB posts anyway, so it's hard to blame ol' Zuckers for appropriating Twitter's big idea; it's much easier to point the finger at him for Facebook's recently-introduced 'Trending' section, which actually goes one better than Twitter's 'Trends' by including a snippet of information about each trending topic.

Handy, although we can only imagine how many people had Game of Thrones spoiled for them by that little white box in the corner.

Cover/Header Photos

Who did it first? Google+ has allowed users to upload cover photos since it launched in 2011. Facebook weren't far behind, rolling out the cover photo in September of the same year. Either way, it certainly wasn't Twitter's idea.

Who else is doing it? Yep, that little blue bird and its evil overlords can take just as good as they give. Roughly one year after Facebook first allowed its users to add cover photos, Twitter starting doing more or less the exact same thing.

More recently, Twitter's layout was radically changed, putting a lot more focus on the cover photo (or 'header photo', as Twitter would have you call it). This was met with a lot of criticism - wasn't Twitter supposed to be about fitting everything into 140 characters? Why the sudden focus on adding images?

Dragging & Dropping

Who did it first? Again, we're pretty sure that Google+ can claim the bragging rights here. A lot of people were reluctant to embrace The Big G's social network when it first materialised online, but if there's one thing that won people over (including the Designer Websites team), it's the site's superbly sleek functionality, epitomised by the way in which you can simply drag images and other items straight into your posts.

Who else is doing it? Almost everybody, although we certainly aren't complaining about this one. You can now drag and drop images into tweets and Facebook updates, just as you can with G+ posts, and it's miles better for everyone (although the functionality is still a little clunky on FB). Now, if only LinkedIn would let us do this as well...

What do you think? Are all social networks too similar nowadays? Should they be sticking to what they each do best? Or are you enjoying all of these changes and new features?

Let us know on Twitter...or Facebook...or Google Plus.

With offices in both Cardiff and London, Liberty Marketing are an award-winning agency with a great track record. They offer a range of digital marketing services, from copywriting and search engine optimisation to social media management and pay-per-click advertising. They've helped hundreds of businesses - large and small - to find their feet online, and their brand new website will surely help them to reach even more clients.

The new Liberty website went live yesterday, and it's another great example of our talent for responsive web design. If you'd like to take a look, the URL is www.libertymarketing.co.uk - here are some of the improvements that we've made:

• Responsive design for better appearance and functionality on mobile devices
• Simple, straightforward navigation, making it easy for users to find the service they need
• Crisp, modern look that stays true to the company's established brand image
• 'Our Thoughts' section, containing Liberty's latest blogs and social media posts

With mobile internet use increasing all the time, it's now more important than ever to have a responsive website for your business. Click here to request a free, no-obligation quote for your new site.

We are delighted to announce an exclusive offer from SagePay to friends of Designer Websites, where you can get your first three months completely free! 

SagePay will offer secure, easy to use and flexible online payment systems for your business. Thanks to our partnership with SagePay they have kindly created an offer where customers and friends of Designer Websites who sign up to SagePay through our custom SagePay partners will get their first three months completely free.  

Note this offer is only available to New SagePay customers. 

If you've ever felt like quitting your job and starting a completely new career, our latest project may well be of interest to you. We've been putting together a brochure website for Training Courses Wales, a company who specialise (as their name would suggest) in vocational training courses. The site went live yesterday, which means that budding plumbers, electricians, gas engineers and construction workers can now book onto relevant training courses right here in Wales.

The local factor is a big part of what Training Courses Wales are all about. They realised that many, many more people would be willing to train for a job in the trade industry if they didn't have to travel so far; catching trains, booking accommodation, and going days without seeing one's family are all big obstacles on the path to a new career. Would-be electricians in Swansea, for example, may previously have chosen not to undertake professional training because they couldn't make it to London or Manchester for a good quality course.

That's where this new website comes in. Training Courses Wales provide vocational training courses throughout South Wales, allowing a lot of people to start the career that they always wanted to have. The TCW site contains details on all of the different qualifications that you can gain from their courses, along with a slick enquiry form that interested parties can use to get in touch. If you want to see what exciting new occupations are at your feet, or if you just want to see an example of our handiwork, pop over to www.trainingcourseswales.co.uk now.

We've been looking after Floormaker's site for several years now, and our latest project for these well-established flooring suppliers was a new, responsive website design. A little while ago, the Floormaker team noticed that a growing portion of their site traffic was coming from smartphones and tablets, and since they wanted to give these mobile users the best possible experience, they picked up the phone and asked us to redesign their site.

The main result of our hard work is that the Floormaker site now responds to the device on which you view it. For instance, people who buy their floor using an iPhone will see a slightly different layout to Floormaker's PC-using customers.

Having said that, we made plenty of other changes while we were redesigning the site. Social media feeds are now prominently displayed on the homepage, making it easier for visitors to see what the brand is up to on Twitter and Pinterest. We also created a 'DIY SOS' blog, which the company can now use to answer any flooring questions their customers might have.

New features aside, the whole site generally looks a little sharper and more modern. Pop over to www.floormaker.co.uk now and see what you think of our handiwork!