A Mashup of Social Networking Sites - Old and New

Published: 7/27/10, Updated: 7/16/11

Bebo

A site similar to Facebook in which users can create profiles for themselves, publish blogs, polls, add pictures, etc.

Web: http://www.bebo.com/

Blogster

A blogging community where users share written blogs, as well as video blogs, and receive feedback from other users.

Web: http://www.blogster.com/

Classmates.com

One of the very first social networking communities (est. 1995) for old and new Classmates to reconnect. A basic profile is free, but a Premium membership is needed to take full advantage of the site.

Web: http://www.classmates.com/

DeviantART

An online community for artists to gather and share their artwork.

Web: http://www.deviantart.com/

Facebook

Established in 2004, Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites today with over 500 million active users worldwide. Users can share blogs (referred to as Notes), pictures, websites, chat, post status updates, etc.

Web: http://www.facebook.com/

FaithFreaks

A site for Christians to unite and start discussions, upload photos, write blogs, ask for prayer, etc.

Web: http://www.faithfreaks.com

Flixster

A site for users to rate movies, discover new movies, and chat about movie interests with others.

Web: http://www.flixster.com/

Folkdirect

A site almost completely set-up like Facebook, however, content on the site is monitored more closely by site admins. Users can share pictures, post blogs and status updates, share links, chat, etc.

Web: http://www.folkdirect.com/

Gaia Online

A place where users can mingle with others and chat in a virtual 2D environment using an "Avatar" to represent one's self.

Web: http://www.gaiaonline.com/

Google+

Google+ is Google's 4th attempt to launch a popular social network after Google Wave and Google Buzz failed to take off, and Orkut only gained momentum in India and Brazil. Google+ has a very clean/sleek layout and operates similar to Facebook in which users can create profiles for themselves, publish status updates, add pictures, chat, etc. Google+ is currently in its Beta stage and is by invitation only at this time.

Web: http://plus.google.com/

LinkedIn

A site dedicated to social networking for businesses, co-workers, and other professional related networking.

Web: http://www.linkedin.com/

Mixi

Available by invite only and limited to Japanese only residents - users can share blogs (known as a Diary's), send email, join communities, etc. As of May 2008, Mixi remains the #1 social networking site in Japan.

Web: http://mixi.jp/

MyPage5

One of the first social networking sites that actually pays you to, well...social network. Get paid for leaving your friend a comment to uploading a picture.

Web: http://www.mypage5.com/

MySpace

One of the earliest and largest social networking sites created after Classmates.com and before Facebook; Myspace was opened for business in August 2003. Users can design customized pages for themselves with colors, designs, and html; post blogs, send email, post pictures, join groups, etc.

Web: http://www.myspace.com/

Orkut

Created and owned by Google, Orkut is very popular in India and Brazil. Users can post and share videos, chat, create polls, share files, etc. You must have a Google "Gmail" email address to sign up and use Orkut.

Web: http://www.orkut.com

Second Life

A virtual 3D community where users create an "Avatar" to represent themselves while "in-world". Second Life differs from other Avatar based sites, whereas Second Life (otherwise referred to as SL), is a completely 3D immersed site - meaning that there is ground, sky, water, environments (like rain, snow, etc.), and users move throughout a world (also known as a grid) to communicate, explore, and interact with other users. Users' can remain completely anonymous to who they are or they can share as much personal info that they want in their profile. A basic account is free, while a Premium account would be needed to take full advantages of the site.

Web: http://secondlife.com/

Twitter

A site dedicated to micro-blogging where users can share status updates and web links, and "follow" other users. Twitter is mostly popular for the large number of celebrities that use it on a daily basis to share information with the public and their fans.

Web: http://twitter.com/

VampireFreaks.com

A site dedicated to users that are a fan of Vampire and Gothic culture, that operates similar to MySpace, but also dedicated to music. A basic profile is free, but a Premium membership is needed to take full advantage of the site.

Web: http://vampirefreaks.com/