The first generation of social media is well-established.  The early adopters are moving on to the next thing in social media.  I’ve put together a list of new social media websites and technologies that are part of the next generation.  Some have been around for a while, but are now coming into their own as the best ways and places to connect.

WordPress —-> Tumblr

For a long time WordPress was the dominant blogging platform.  Recently Tumblr.com took the lead and for a good reason.

WordPress is a deep site, perfect for active long-form bloggers.  The plug-ins and widgets allow people to let their imaginations run wild.  A WordPress site is almost unlimited in its functionality.  This has made it a great base for web designers.

Tumblr.com is very easy to use and perfect for the growing mobile community.  A large number of the Tumblr blogs are supplied with content delivered via smart phones.

Facebook —-> Google+

Google+ is a clean and easy-to-use social media platform.  The ability to place the people you connect with in custom circles makes it easy to send the right message to the most interested people.

The Google+ video hangout feature is the future of communication.  With a few clicks you can open a video chat area for a specific circle or share with the public.  It has a good chat client,  real-time updating stream (think of the Facebook wall) and makes sharing photos and video from you phone extremely easy.

If you have a Google account you will find it easy to connect and more efficient than logging in and out of other social media sites.

Flickr —–> 500px

500px.com is how the photography sharing site flickr.com would be built if it was invented today.  This site offers a great presentation platform for your photographs and makes no claims of ownership to your images. Nice.

500px is a great place to find photographic inspiration and connect with other photographers.  If you enjoy sharing your expertise there is a built-in social media wall and blogging platform to share your wisdom with your followers.

500px also has a nice website upgrade option complete with templates and Google analytics.

Evernote ——> SpringPad

Evernote is the place to store everything online.  Web links, photos, and random thoughts all have a place on Evernote.  SpringPad does many of the things Evernote does, but with a little more organization and a cleaner design.

My favorite SpingPad feature is the to-do check list. You can search for information and products online from the SpringPad search box. I find I still like Evernote more for some of my online and business activities.  Both have features that outshine the other. Currently, we are in the middle of a dog fight.

E-commerce website —–> Facebook page

Although the personal Facebook page has currently taken a back seat, the business page is more important than ever.  Early in 2011 Facebook opened up the API for their Pages to allow iFrames. This gives developers a universe of options to create dynamic pages that can be used for e-commerce and promotion.  With 750 million people on Facebook. a high-end Page must be a standard in your marketing plan.

E-mail —-> Twitter DM

I was pleased when Twitter released its platform upgrade last year.  I found the new direct message  (DM) system to be excellent.

For someone to send a Twitter DM to you,  they first must be approved. If you don’t like what people are sending you it’s as easy as unfollowing them.  Every time you click on a person’s icon in the DM section of Twitter, all the messages you have sent and received are displayed below the current message.

The way Twitter handles direct messages is how e-mail should have been developed.

Laptop —-> iPad

I use my laptop for e-mail, searching the Internet, and as a tool when giving presentations.  I can do it all a lot easier and better on an iPad.  The heavy lifting– such as processing and touching up photos — is usually done on my desktop computer.  These days many laptops are actually powerful enough to replace the traditional desktop for many tasks.

For now, I prefer a powerful desktop computer and plan to use the iPad for my day-to-day activities.

Yahoo Answers —-> Quora

In the past, Yahoo Answers was a good place to share your knowledge.  Now there is a new generation of question-and-answer sites with Quora.com as the lead favorite.

If you are trying to establish yourself as an expert, Quora is an excellent place to be. I don’t spend a lot of time there. When I have a question  for the public or want opinions from others. I’ve found the information and interaction with other people extremely valuable.

Some social media websites and technologies are still solid in their dominate positions.  Facebook has a long way to go before it is toppled. Twitter is the best media stream, in my opinion.  Although, like Facebook, Twitter will find some competition from Google+.  Linkedin is still the standard for business networking and I don’t see a solid competitor yet.

What do you see coming in the next generation of social media technology?