I had two choices while writing this article: hunt down every online social networking site on the Internet and provide links but give little information about each, or provide more information about a decent selection of popular sites. I originally opted for the second choice, but then I thought of a third: review the more popular sites, and provide a link and a more abbreviated description for each of the rest. The result is the list below, which is only the first part of a larger collection of categorized sites. If you know of any other online networking sites not included in the list at the end of this post, please leave a comment so I can add them. Thanks! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bebo is a nicely designed site that offers online social networking where friends share information and explore different forms of entertainment. Their are a lot of cool applications that expand what you can do when you're in the Bebo environment, which means you'll probably want to have high speed internet service if you're a member. These include the BeFunky Cartoonizer that allows you to turn photos into cartoons; iLike, which lets you add music and videos to your profile; the ability to make song dedications to friends and participate in a music challenge; and much more. At the moment, this site is more popular in the U.K. than the U.S., but it can be used by anyone. After Wanted , composer duo Sajid-Wajid returns with the music of another Salman Khan starrer, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna . The album cannot be considered a sure-shot hit but is decent in parts. A weird incident recently took place on the sets of Star Plus's Bebo, where Amrit aka Anuj Sachdeva was taken aback when Bebo's father misunderstood him, and started yelling at the poor actor! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capazoo is unusual in that it combines online social networking with the ability to earn "zoops," which can be converted into cash at the rate of $0.01 per zoop. You earn zoops by getting "tips" from other users for your videos, music, photos, profiles and more; when you invite friends to join you at Capazoo; and for other member activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Facebook advertises itself as "a social utility that connects you with the people around you." What that means in practical terms is that it is aon online social network that allows you to upload photos, publish notes, get news from friends, post videos in a profile, tag friends and join a network to see people who live, study, or work around you. Facebook is much like MySpace, but in my opinion, it's easier to navigate and better looking. Thanks to Facebook, more people are hooking up with long-lost crushes. Some are better off lost The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it tracked down a man accused of breaking a dog's leg by finding him through his Facebook page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MySpace touts that it's a great online venue to meet your friends' friends. And if your friends' friends are in bands or are celebrities, you'd have an even greater chance of finding them there. But plenty of other people use MySpace too. It's a happening online social network, even though it's not a very elegant environment. As of this writing, MySpace had just added ringtones, news and an Impact section, which focuses on giving back by helping the environment, getting involved in politics or donating either money or time to nonprofit organizations. The poster for Thursday’s Doro concert at Peabody’s was too hot for MySpace. The traffic firm noticed a clear uptick in U.S. Facebook growth after the site launched Facebook Connect in full, and that's when it passed MySpace in traffic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Twitter is an online social network that allows people to stay connected through the exchange of quick bursts of information. Some use Twitter as a cute time-waster on their sites orblogs, but it can actually be used to transmit useful information, too, such as letting everyone know when you're busy. You also can use it to network by exploring your "block" to see who has been using Twitter at the same time as you. And there's an application that allows you to use Twitter within your Facebook acount, as well as many other third-party apps created by Twitter fans. A growing number of state agencies and politicians are using the social networking site known as Twitter to get their message out. Tweet revenge Sen. Claire McCaskill, one of Congress’ most prolific Twitter users, inadvertently got her colleague Michael Bennet of Colorado in some trouble with liberal Denver blogger David Sirota. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yuwie features most of the same online networking features as the other sites on this page, but there's one big difference: they pay their users to generate traffic. Granted, you have to generate a lot of traffic to get paid, but that's possible if you sign up people underneath you and have some patience. But Yuwie earnings aren't entirely based on the efforts of other people. They pay you for your own page views as well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The following are more social networking sites that fall within the general category. If I left off one of your favorites, please leave me a comment below and I'll add it. Please see future posts for the rest of the sites, which will be linked from this page. They include the following categories: books and reading, bloggingcommunities, social bookmarking, business, photo/video sharing andmiscellaneous.
Bebo
Bebo in the News
Capazoo
Facebook music video overview
Facebook
Facebook in the news
Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America
List Price: $27.00
Me, MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net Generation
List Price: $16.95MySpace
MySpace in the news
Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
List Price: $24.95
The Twitter Book
List Price: $19.99
Twitter For Dummies
List Price: $21.99Twitter
Twitter in the news
Yuwie
Additional Online Social Networking Sites
Sometimes we seek out others on social networking sites for inspiration and to get us motivated. The link above features short snippets of motivational advice, guaranteed to get you going!
