The social media war is heating up by the day with certain social platforms removing the integration of other networks features, slowly imitating aspects of other networks' and the launch and relaunch of social networks from two of the Internet's powerhouse companies.

Instagram have made a move against Twitter by removing the ability for users to view Instagram pictures on Twitter cards. There are a few sceptics out there who are claiming this to be a move on behalf of Facebook, after their acquisition of the photo-sharing social network. This has been denied by Instagram's CEO Kevin Systrom, who claims that Instagram is looking to drive traffic back to its own platform due its 'more robust web presence these days'.

This may be the case, but it's hard not to believe that Facebook has influenced Instagram as Facebook begins to implement the changing of the name of its 'subscribers' button to 'followers'. Is this not what Twitter labels people who receive another person's tweets in their news feed?

And in another series of moves from the social networking giant, Firefox has just integrated Facebook messenger on the side of its browser window. This comes at the same time as Facebook launching an instant messenger Android app, allowing users of the device to chat on Facebook without having to register an account. 

In a time with a growing number of social networking platforms to choose from, Microsoft has decided to join the realms by finally launching a beta version called Socl to the public. The platform is a cross between Facebook (with the sharing, commenting, tagging and liking of posts), with Pinterest (tonnes of photos and the ability to follow people). Sulia has also grown its following and joined the party. The social network provides similar functionality to Socl, but users view content by favouriting subject lines that they wish to view related content from.

This comes at the same time that MySpace released its revamped version with a similar content stream to Pinterest along with seamless music integration.

The social media world is changing quickly and users and companies are trying to find their position on different platforms. The key: identify which platform your followers are on and begin to build a presence. Test the waters if you have to, by creating an account and sharing relevant information that your fans and followers will find useful and effective.