Companies and their Subsideries

A Guide to Social Networks

Social Networks can be a great home on the web, can help you connect with people or reconnect with long-lost friends, and can even help your career by making business contacts. Social networks range from friends-based networks like Facebook and MySpace to music and movie networks like Flixster and Last.FM to business social networks like LinkedIn and XING.

Facebook

It hasn't taken long for Facebook to become the most popular social network on the planet. With the multitude of Facebook applications extending its use and the ease of Facebook Connect to use as a login for various websites, Facebook has become our home on the web.

• Why Start Facebooking?
• How to Organize Facebook Friends
• How to Connect Twitter to Facebook

• Set Up a Web Feed on Facebook
• Create a Custom Facebook List
• More Facebook Tips

General and Friends-based Social Networks

General social networks do not focus on a particular topic or niche. Instead, they put the emphasis on staying connected to your friends and connecting with new people. These friends-based networks often allow you to join groups and connect with people who have similar interests.

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Hi5
• More Friends-based Social Networks
• More School-based Social Networks

Movie and Music Social Networks

Movie and music social networks focus on connecting people to others who enjoy similar interests in movies or music. They can be a great resource for finding more information about a movie you enjoyed, discovering new music by checking out the playlists of people with similar interests, or just kicking back and playing a movie trivia game.

• LastFM
• Flixster
• iLike
• More Movie and Music Social Networks

Mobile Social Networks

Mobile users constitute one of the biggest areas of growth in the online market. A number of social networks have sprung up that cater to mobile users in order to better suit their needs. These social networks can be great for arranging impromptu meetings while out on the town.

• Dodgeball
• Loopt
• Mozes
• More Mobile Social Networks

Pet Social Networks

Did you think social networks were limited to humans? Many different social networks have sprung up devoted to our hairy, four-legged and sometimes slithering-on-their-stomach friends. These pet-based social networks are not only great for meeting other pet owners, but also can be an excellent resource if you are in dire need of finding adopters of a surprise litter.

• Catster
• Dogster
• More Pet Social Networks

Hobby and Special Interest Social Networks

Hobby and special interest social networks range from those devoted to biking or sports to those who focus on sharing car reviews or dispensing medical advice. They can be a great source of entertainment, information and a great place to go for advice.

• ActionProfiles
• FanIQ
• More Hobby and Special Interest Social Networks

Business Social Networks

Social networks aren't all about fun and games. Social networking in business goes back long before the Internet when use of the 'buddy system' could be the best way to find a job. Business social networks bring that buddy system into the digital age by allowing you to quickly and easily maintain a list of business contacts and make new business connections.

• LinkedIn
• XING
• Konnects
• More Business Social Networks

Reading and Books Social Networks

Just finished up with a great book and looking for something similar to read? Reading and book-based social networks can be a great place to find people who share your taste in books. They are a great way to get book reviews, let friends know what your are reading, recommend the latest book that blew you away, and simply share information about literature.

• GoodReads
• Shelfari
• LibraryThing

Name	Description/Focus	Date launched	Registered users	Registration	GlobalAlexa[1]Page ranking
43 Things	Goal setting and achievement	1 January 2005	3,000,000[2]	Open	13,574[3]
Academia.edu	Social networking site for academics/researchers	September 2008	211,000[4]	Open	3,872[5]
Advogato	Free and open source software developers	1999	13,575[6]	Open	318,165[7]
aNobii	Books	2006		Open	13,131[8]
AsianAvenue	A social network for the Asian American community	1997		Open	133,043[9]
aSmallWorld	European jet set and social elite world-wide	March 2004	550,000[10]	Invite-only	8,780[11]
Athlinks	Running, Swimming	2001	139,458[12]	Open	60,677[13]
Audimated.com	Independent music	2010		Open	656,507[14]
Bebo	General	July 2005	117,000,000[15]	Open to people 13 and older	4,169[16]
BIGADDA	Indian Social Networking Site	August 2007	3,000,000[17]	Open to people 16 and older	42,765[18]
Biip.no	Norwegian community	1 June 2005	430,000[19]	Requires Norwegian phone number	81,916[20]
BlackPlanet	Black Americans	1 September 1999	20,000,000[21]	Open	7,193[22]
Blauk	Anyone who wants to tell something about a stranger or acquaintance.	2010		Open to people 13 and older.	1,081,215[23]
Blogster	Blogging community	24 November 2005	85,579[24]	Open	12,048[25]
Bolt.com	General	1996		Open	589,595[26]
Busuu	Language learning community (headquartered in Madrid, Spain)	16 May 2008	12,000,000[27]	Open	4,976[28]
Buzznet	Music and pop-culture	2005	10,000,000[29]	Open	6,955[30]
CafeMom	Mothers	December 2006	1,250,000[31]	Open to moms and moms-to-be	1,293[32]
Care2	Green living and social activism	1998	9,961,947[33]	Open	1,930[34]
CaringBridge	Not for profit providing free websites that connect family and friends during a serious health event, care and recovery.[35]		9,500,000[36]	Open to people 18 and older[37]	4,279[38]
Classmates.com	School, college, work and the military	1995	50,000,000[39]	Open to people 18 and older[40]	3,284[41]
Cloob	General. Popular in Iran	2004		Open	749[42]
CouchSurfing	Worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the communities they visit.	2003	2,967,421[43]	Open	2,231[44]
CozyCot	East Asian and Southeast Asian women	2001	150,000[45]	Open	36,959[46]
Cross.tv	Faith Based social network for Christian believers from around the world	2008	450,000[47]	Open	53,394[48]
Crunchyroll	Anime and forums.	2006		Open	5,721[49]
Cyworld	General. Popular in South Korea.	1999	24,000,000[50]	Open	1,616[51]
DailyBooth	Photo-blogging site where users upload a photo every day	13 February 2009		Closed	5,963[52]
DailyStrength	Medical & emotional support community - Physical health, Mental health, Support groups	4 November 2007		Open	10,511[53]
delicious	Social bookmarking allowing users to locate and save websites that match their own interests	September 2003	8,822,921[54]	Open	436[55]
deviantART	Art community	7 August 2000	22,000,000[56]	Open to people 13 and older	131[57]
Diaspora*	Decentralized, privacy aware, general (open source)	November 2010	370,000+[n 1][58]	Open	36,792[n 2][59]
Disaboom	People with disabilities (Amputee, cerebral palsy, MS, and other disabilities)			Open	218,135[60]
Dol2day	Politic community, Social network, Internet radio (German-speaking countries)		40,200[61]	Open	385,237[62]
DontStayIn	Clubbing (primarily UK)			Open	86,535[63]
Draugiem.lv	General (primarily LV, LT, HU)		2,600,466[64]	Invitation only	2,698[65]
douban	Chinese Web 2.0 website providing user review and recommendation services for movies, books, and music.	2005	46,850,000[66]	Open	106[67]
DXY.cn	Chinese online community for physicians, health care professionals, pharmacies and facilities	2000[68]	2,000,000[69]	Open	8,367[70]
Elftown	Community and wiki around Fantasy and sci-fi.		185,000[71]	Open, approval needed	43,277[72]
Elixio	Business executives jet set and global elite.	July 2007	80,000[73]	Invite-only	545,268[74]
English, baby!	Students and teachers of English as a second language	2000	1,600,000[75]	Open	29,585[76]
Epernicus	For research scientists			Open	798,086[77]
Eons.com	For baby boomers and mature internet users age 40 and beyond.			Open to people age 40 years and older	73,767[78]
eToro	Social Investing, Finance	May 2007	2,500,000	Open	1,591[79]
Experience Project	Life experiences			Open	2,658[80]
Exploroo	Travel Social Networking.			Open	163,545[81]
Facebook	General: Photos, Videos, Blogs, Apps.	February 2004	1,000,000,000[82]	Open to people 13 and older	2[83]
Faceparty	General. Popular UK.		200,000[84]	Invitation only to people 18 and older	163,639[85]
Faces.com	Adult Social Network, Mainly UK & USA	2011	700,000[86]	Open to people 18 and older worldwide	149,839[87]
Fetlife	People who are into BDSM	January 2008	1,200,000[88]	Open to people "of legal age to see adult content"	4,131[89]
FilmAffinity	Movies and TV Series	2002	250,000[90]	Open	3,151[91]
Filmow	Movies and TV Series	2009		Open	44,630[92]
FledgeWing	Entrepreneural community targeted towards worldwide university students			Open to university students	696,513[93]
Flixster	Movies	2007	63,000,000[94]	Open to people 13 and older	4,012[95]
Flickr	Photo sharing, commenting, photography related networking, worldwide	February 2004	32,000,000[96]	Open to people 13 and older (Yahoo! Login)	48[97]
Focus.com	Business to Business, worldwide	2005	850,000[98]	Open to people 13 and older	12,114[99]
Fotki	Photo sharing, video hosting, photo contests, journals, forums, flexible privacy protection, friend's feed, audio comments and unlimited custom design integration.	October 1998	1,632,565	Open	8,011[100]
Fotolog	Photoblogging. Popular in South America and Spain	2002	20,000,000[101]	Open	3,168[102]
Foursquare	Location based mobile social network	2009	20,000,000[103]	Open	817[104]
Friendica	Distributed, federated, privacy aware, open source, general			Open	354,946[105][n 2]
Friends Reunited	UK based. School, college, work, sport and streets	July 2000	19,000,000[106]	Open to people 13 and older	29,239[107]
Friendster	General. Popular in Southeast Asia. No longer popular in the western world	2002	90,000,000[108]	Open to people 16 and older.	12,167[109]
Frühstückstreff	General	July 2001	14,800[citation needed]	Open	1,827,621[110]
Fubar	dating, an "online bar" for 18 and older	October 2007	1,200,000[111]	Open to people 18+	10,453[112]
Fuelmyblog	Blogging community	July 2007	50,000[113]	Open	85,547[114]
FullCircle	Geosocial networking and location-based services portal for mobile devices	April 2009		Open	1,167,425[115]
Gaia Online	Anime and games. Popular in USA, Canada and Europe. Moderately popular around Asia.		23,523,663[116]	Open to people 13 and older	6,277[117]
GamerDNA	Computer and video games	21 September 2006	310,000[118]	Open	59,730[119]
Gapyear.com	Travel social network	July 1998		Open	74,763[120]
Gather.com	Article, picture, and video sharing, as well as group discussions		465,000[121]	Open	3,062[122]
Gays.com	Social network for LGBT community, Guide for LGBT bars, restaurants, clubs, shopping	16 May 2008	100,000[123]	Open, Global	224,302[124]
Geni.com	Families, genealogy	16 January 2007	15,000,000[125]	Open	5,958[126]
GetGlue	Social network for entertainment	28 October 2008	2,000,000[127]	Open	3,735[128]
Gogoyoko	Fair play in Music - Social networking site for musicians and music lovers			Invite only while in beta	145,552[129]
Goodreads	Library cataloging, book lovers	December 2006	13,000,000[130]	Open	327[131]
Goodwizz	Social network with matchmaking and personality games to find new contacts. Global, based in France.	October 2010	110,000[132][133]	Open	597,008[134]
Google+	General	28 June 2011	500,000,000[135]	Open to people 13 and older[136]	NA[n 3]
GovLoop	For people in and around government				138,576[137]
Grono.net	Poland		2,000,000[citation needed]	Open	395,036[138]
Habbo	General for teens. Over 31 communities worldwide. Chat room and user profiles.	August 2000	268,000,000[139][140][141]	Open to people 13 and older	15,255[142]
hi5	General. Popular in Nepal, Mongolia, Thailand, Romania, Jamaica, Central Africa, Portugal andLatin America. Not very popular in the USA.	2003	80,000,000[143]	Open to people 13 and older.	902[144]
Hospitality Club	Hospitality		328,629[145]	Open	99,562[146]
Hotlist	Geo-Social Aggregator rooted in the concept of knowing where users' friends are, were, and will be.		80,000[147]	Open	155,811[148]
HR.com	Social networking site for Human Resources professionals	1999	194,000[149]	Open	79,591[150]
Hub Culture	Global influencers focused on worth creation	November 2002	20,000[151]	Invite-only	152,756[152]
Hyves	General, mostly popular in the Netherlands.	September 2004	10,097,000[153]	Open	2,243[154]
Ibibo	Talent based social networking site that allows to promote one's self and also discover new talent. Most popular in India.		3,500,000[155]	Open	1,143[156]
Identi.ca	Twitter-like service popular with hackers and software freedom advocates.		395,695[citation needed]	Open	7,290[157]
Indaba Music	Online collaboration for musicians, remix contests, and networking.		350,000[158]	Open, Global	45,039[159]
IRC-Galleria	Finland		505,000[160]	Open to Finnish speaking people 12 and older	36,982[161]
italki.com	Language learning social network. 100+ languages.		500,000[162]	Open, Global	18,956[163]
Itsmy	Mobile community worldwide, blogging, friends, personal TV-shows		2,500,000[164]		770,100[165]
iWiW	Hungary	14 April 2002	4,000,000[166]	Invite-only	3,831[167]
Jaiku	General. Microblogging. Owned by Google	February 2006		Open to people 13 and older	62,910[168]
Jiepang	Location based mobile social network. In Chinese language	2010	3,000,000[169]	Open	14,790[170]
Kaixin001	General. In Simplified Chinese; caters for mainland China users			Open to the General Public	284[171]
Kiwibox	General.	1999	2,400,000[172]	Open to people 13 and older	104,563[173]
Lafango	Talent-Focused media sharing site			Open, Global	161,778[174]
LaiBhaari	Marathi social networking	2010	250,000	Open	952,782[175]
Last.fm	Music	2002	30,000,000[176]	Open	772[177]
LibraryThing	Book lovers	29 August 2005	1,300,000[178]	Open to people 13 and older	10,800[179]
Lifeknot	Shared interests, hobbies			Open to people 18 and older	1,071,686[180]
LinkedIn	Business and professional networking	May 2003	200,000,000[181]	Open to people 18 and older	12[182]
LinkExpats	Social networking website for expatriates. 100+ countries.			Open, Global	800,451[183]
Listography	Lists. Autobiography			Open	92,525[184]
LiveJournal	Blogging. Popular in Russia and among the Russian-speaking diaspora abroad.	15 April 1999	17,564,977[185]	Open (OpenID)	115[186]
Livemocha	Online language learning		5,000,000[187]	Open	4,100[188]
Makeoutclub	General	9 August 1999		Open	756,300[189]
MEETin	General			Open	318,979[190]
Meetup (website)	General. Used to plan offline meetings for people interested in various activities			Open to people 18 and older	481[191]
Meettheboss	Business and Finance community, worldwide.			Open	315,513[192]
MillatFacebook	General, Created in Response to Facebook [193]	May 2010	461,200[194]	Open	236,663[195]
mixi	Japan	25 October 2000	24,323,160[196]	Open	232[197]
MocoSpace	mobile community, worldwide	2005	3,000,000[198]	Open to people 14 and older	9,882[199]
MOG	Music			Open to people 14 and older	13,955[200]
MouthShut.com	Social Network, social media, consumer reviews			Open	3,340[201]
Mubi	Auteur cinema		200,000	Open	18,225[202]
MyHeritage	family-oriented social network service		30,000,000 [203]	Open	3,756[204]
MyLife	Locating friends and family, keeping in touch (formerly Reunion.com)		51,000,000[205]	Open	1,765[206]
My Opera	Blogging, mobile blogging, photo sharing, connecting with friends, Opera Link and Opera Unite. Global		7,300,000[207]	Open	NA[n 3]
Myspace	General	August 2003	30,000,000+[208][209]	Open to ages 13 and older.	161[210]
Nasza-klasa.pl	School, college and friends. Popular in Poland		11,000,000[211]	Open	75,145[212]
Netlog	General. Popular in Europe, Turkey, the Arab World and Canada's Québec province. Formerly known as Facebox and Redbox.[213]		95,000,000[214]	Open to people 13 and older	545[215]
Nexopia	Canada		1,400,000[216]	Open to people 13 and older[217]	25,241[218]
NGO Post	Non-Profit news sharing and networking, mainly in India		15,000[219]	Open	42,076[220]
Ning	Users create their own social websites and social networks	2005 (Networks 2007)		Open to people 13 and older	378[221]
Odnoklassniki	Connect with old classmates. Popular in Russia and former Soviet republics		45,000,000[222]	Open	65[223]
Open Diary	First online blogging community, founded in 1998	1998	5,000,000[224]	Open to people 13 and older	28,134[225]
Orkut	General. Owned by Google Inc. Popular in India and Brazil.[226]	22 January 2004	100,000,000[227]	Open to people 18 and older, (Google login)	319[228]
OUTeverywhere	Gay/LGBTQ Community			Open	445,440[229]
PatientsLikeMe	Online community for patients with life-changing illnesses to find other patients like them, share their data with others, and learn more about their condition to improve their outcome.	2006	109,587[230]	Open to people 13 years and up	69,514[231]
Partyflock	Dutch virtual community for people interested in house music and other electronic dance music	10 November 2001	321,125	Open to people 18 years and up	16,828[232]
Pingsta	Collaborative platform for the world's Internetwork Experts			Invite-only, only Internet Experts	2,533,640[233]
Pinterest	Online pinboard for organizing and sharing things you love	2011		Open	38[234]
Plaxo	Aggregator		50,000,000[235]	Open	5,310[236]
Playfire	Computer and video games			Open to people 13 and older	38,259[237]
Playlist.com	General, Music			Open to people over 13	8,026[238]
Plurk	Micro-blogging, RSS, updates. Very popular in Taiwan			Open	1,991[239]
Qapacity	A a business-oriented social networking site and a business directory			Closed	20,640[240]
Quechup	General, friendship, dating	2007		Open to those over 16	82,914[241]
Qzone	General. In Simplified Chinese; caters for mainland China users		480,000,000[242][243]	Open to the general public	NA[n 3]
Raptr	Video games			Open	25,664[244]
Ravelry	Knitting and crochet		3,000,000[245]	Open	2,334[246]
Renren	Significant site in China. Was known as 校内 (Xiaonei) until August 2009.		160,000,000[247]	Open	95[248]
ReverbNation.com	Social network for musician and bands		500,000[249]	Open to people 16 and older	1,806[250]
Ryze	Business		500,000[251]	Closed	71,324[252]
ScienceStage	Science-oriented multimedia platform and network for scientists			Open	61,668[253]
ShareTheMusic	Music Community. Sharing and listening to music for free and legally			Open	612,429[254]
Shelfari	Books	11 October 2006		Open	18,152[255]
Sina Weibo	Social microblogging site in Mainland China.	14 August 2009	300,000,000[256]	Open	28[257]
Skoob	Collaborative social network for Brazilian readers	2009	420,000[258]	Open	28,449[259]
Skyrock	Social Network in French-speaking world		22,000,000[260]	Open	710[261]
SocialVibe	Social Network for Charity		435,000[citation needed]	Open	101,364[262]
Sonico.com	General. Popular in Latin America and Spanish and Portuguese speaking regions.		50,000,000[263][264]	Open to people 13 and older	2,676[265]
SoundCloud	Repository of original music pieces and networking.		10,000,000[266]	Open	299[267]
Spaces	Russian Social Network targeted to mobile phone users			Open	9,953[268]
Stickam	Live video streaming and chat.		9,000,000[269]	Closed	9,201[270]
StudiVZ	University students, mostly in the German-speaking countries. School students and those out of education sign up via its partner sites schülerVZ and meinVZ.		17,000,000[271]	Open	7,080[272]
Students Circle Network	A Social Network connecting students, teachers and institutions to course resources, study groups and learning spaces.	December 2010		Open	345,110[273]
StumbleUpon	Stumble through websites that match users' selected interests		20,000,000[274]	Open	146[275]
Tagged	General.	October 2004	100,000,000[276]	Open	288[277]
Talkbiznow	Business networking			Open	136,346[278]
Taltopia	Online artistic community			Open	281,501[279]
Taringa!	General (primarily Argentina)		11,000,000[280]	Open to people 13 and older	214[281]
TeachStreet	Education / Learning / Teaching - More than 400 subjects			Open	422,704[282]
TermWiki	Learning / Languages / Translation - 1.2m terms in more than 1300 subjects	May 2010		Open	22,997[283]
The Sphere	A Private Online Social Luxury Network with Exclusive Personalized Services	December 2008	1,300[284]	Invite-only	1,115,305[285]
TravBuddy.com	Travel	2005	1,588,000[286]	Open to people 18 and older	21,523[287]
Travellerspoint	Travel	2002	310,000[288]	Open	15,275[289]
tribe.net	General			Open	8,081[290]
Trombi.com	French subsidiary of Classmates.com		4,400,000[291]		16,227[292]
Tuenti	Spanish-based university and High School social network.		12,000,000[293]	Invite-only	1,083[294]
Tumblr	Microblogging platform and Social Networking Website.		15,940[295]	Open	32[296]
Twitter	General. Micro-blogging, RSS, updates	15 July 2006	500,000,000[297]	Open to all ages[298]	8[299]
Tylted	Mobile social game network[300]	2007	3,000,000[301]	Open to people 14 and older	737,508[302]
Vkontakte	General, including music upload, listening and search. Popular in Russia and former Soviet republics.	September 2006	123,612,100[303]	Open	38[304]
Vampirefreaks.com	Gothic and industrial subculture	1999	1,931,049[305]	Open to users 13 and over	21,052[306]
Viadeo	Global Social Networking and Campus Networking available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese		35,000,000[307]	Open	435[308]
Virb	Social network that focuses heavily on artists, including musicians and photographers	2007		Open	33,371[309]
Vox	Blogging			Open	56,558[310]
Wattpad	For readers and authors to interact & e-book sharing			Open	7,036[311]
WAYN	Travel and lifestyle	May 2003	10,000,000[312]	Open to people 18 and older	1,367[313]
WeeWorld	Teenagers - 10 to 17		30,000,000[314]	Open to ages 13 and older.	18,317[315]
Wellwer	Community without borders, where sharing is everything.	September 2011		Open to people 13 years and older	370,755[316]
WeOurFamily	General with emphasis on privacy and security			Open, subscription-based	3,359,241[317]
Wepolls.com	Social polling network			Open	1,204,376[318]
Wer-kennt-wen	General			General	2,147[319]
weRead	Books	June 2007	4,000,000[citation needed]	Open	305,720[320]
Wiser.org	Online community space for the social justice and environmental movement[321]	April 2007	71,600[322]	Open to people 16 and older	239,901[323]
Wooxie	Blogging and micro-blogging			Open	111,538[324]
WriteAPrisoner.com	Site networking inmates, friends, family	September 2000	66,000[325]	Open to people 18 years and older	228,915[326]
Xanga	Blogs and "metro" areas	Unknown	27,000,000[327]	Open	3,943[328]
XING	Business (primarily Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland))		11,100,000[329]	Open	270[330]
Xt3	Catholic social networking, created for World Youth Day 2008			Open	712,292[331]
Yammer	Social networking for office colleagues	2008		Must have company email	3,622[332]
Yelp, Inc.	Local Business Review and Talk			Open	186[333]
Zoo.gr	Greek Web Meeting point	2004	890,000[334]	Open	34,577[335]
Zooppa	Online Community for Creative Talent (host of brand sponsored advertising contests)		60,000[336]	Open to people 14 and older[337]	36,373[338