Top 10 Online FREE Social Networking

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Before I proceed, below is Wikipedia's definition of Social Network:

A social network service focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others, and which necessitates the use of software.

Most social network services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.

I just gone through a review of available social networking services on the internet, and checked the ranking as well. Some of the service never been heard before, maybe for some of you might have heard of them. As for me, I was like: "Does this site even exist?".

Well, here they are! The top 10 Online Free Social Networking Websites. Check them out and compare.


1. MySpace

Who don't know what MySpace is? I bet everyone know about this one. It has been marked as the largest and in number 1 spot amongst all other social networking.

MySpace has become synonymous with chat rooms and circles of friends and with over 70 million members worldwide; it lives up to its reputation as the best social networking website on the Internet. MySpace isn’t just for teenagers; young and old can reap the benefits of MySpace. Share ideas, participate in serious discussions or start a romance.

MySpace has a great variety of features for creating a customized profile page and plenty of extras like listening to the latest music or watching the last episode of your favorite TV show.

URL: http://www.myspace.com


2. Zorpia.com

Zorpia was founded in 2003 with a goal of bringing people together from all over the world and allowing them to share their ideas and interests. Since then the Zorpia Team has worked ceaselessly to reach people's heart and provide the best features in order to maximize our users' satisfaction. Our primary features are photo album, online journal, social networking, customized homepage, comment system and discussion forum.

The headquarters are located in Hong Kong, China. However, they are planning to open new branches in mainland China, US, UK, Australia and many other countries.

URL: http://www.zorpia.com/


3. AOL People Connection

Here some facts about AOL People Connection:

In a given month, AOL People Connection has nearly 6.7 million unique visitors. 657,000 average daily visitors.*

AOL People Connection is a great place to reach users looking to connect: 58% of the audience are Persons 35+, and 31% are Persons 45-64.*

Nearly one-third (32%) of AOL People Connection's visitors have had any college or a bachelor's/graduate degree.*

More than half (60%) of AOL People Connection's visitors have children in the household.*

AOL People Connection users are looking to connect with others: They are 7+ times more likely than the average online user to have used chat room w/ friends/family yesterday or used an online dating service in last 30 days.**

Source: *comScore Media Metrix, August 2007,**Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan, Fall 2007

A great place to visit, huh?

URL: http://peopleconnection.aol.com/main/



4. Friendster

With more than 50 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network. Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, groups, activities and interests. Friendster prides itself in delivering a clean, user-friendly and interactive environment where users can easily connect with anyone around the world. Friendster has a growing portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Friendster is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures and individual investors.Actually it surprise me when I found out Friendster is ranked number 4. But after visiting the above sites, I have to accept that Friendster still need to be improved. But this another famous social networkin service available online.

URL: http://www.friendster.com

5. hi5

hi5.com is a social networking internet service similar to Friendster and MySpace. Users create an online profile by answering questions and uploading a user picture. Users can send friend requests to other users. When this person receives said friend request, he or she may accept or decline the friend request or block the user altogether. If the user accepts this person as their friend then they will be connected directly or in the 1st degree. The user will then appear on the person's friend list and vice-versa.

Users have the option to make their profile viewable only to those people who are in their Network. Your network of friends consists of your direct friends (1st degree), the friends of your direct friends (2nd degree) and the friends of the friends of your direct friends (3rd degree). Other users opt to make their profile available to view to everyone on hi5.

URL: http://www.hi5.com/


6. My Yahoo

My Yahoo! is a free web service that has all the features and extras of a great social networking website; although, it is designed different from other sites we reviewed. To receive the full benefit of social networking, use My Yahoo!, Everything Yahoo! and Yahoo! 360° together.

URL: http://my.yahoo.com

7. Facebook

Facebook is a free social networking website made up of hundreds of separate networks based around schools, business and region. The minimum age to join is 13. Facebook is strictly for connecting with people online; they don’t have extras like music, videos, games, classifieds, etc.

The website design is straightforward; it has few graphics or decoration, but they have a good variety of networking features.

URL: http://www.facebook.com

8. Tickle

Connect with people worldwide by joining Tickle, a free social networking website. Personalize your profile; upload multiple photos and post detailed information such as your name, address, ethnicity, high school, pets, languages, religion and interests. You can make your profile page public or private. You can also link to your friends, invite new friends, send messages and browse for people and groups from your profile page.

A search function for keywords isn’t available to find specific groups. After clicking on a category, you have to scroll through the groups to find what you want.

URL: http://web.tickle.com

9. Everyones Connected

Connect with everyone by joining the free social networking website, Everyone’s Connected. Let people get to know you from your profile by posting your occupation, hobbies, interests and stories. Upload photo albums, write blogs and post news articles. You can make your profile public or private; see a list of the last 12 people who have accessed your profile and block individual members.

For instant messaging and chat, Everyone’s Connected uses Skype. You can download free Skype software and gain access to Skype users worldwide.

URL: http://www.everyonesconnected.com

10. Backwash

Backwash is more than just a social networking website; it’s designed much like an online newspaper. You can read articles, featured columns, take fun personality tests and explore links to other websites. Backwash is a free global social network.

Unlike the other social networking websites, Backwash provide a special websites called Kids Backwash. Like the main Backwash site, Kids Backwash is an online newspaper with articles, columns and activities—except it’s designed for kids. Soon a full social network for kids will be up and running. Because some content on the other Backwash sites may be inappropriate for kids, there is no link from Kids Backwash to any other Backwash site. Pretty good huh?

URL: http://social.backwash.com/


Well, hope this post will help you guys. My purpose is just giving away useful information to you guys.

Just want to share to you guys, previously I don't know what Facebook was until one of my friend invited me to join. At the end, I found out that the site is quite good especially in "Networking" part. For further experience, go and visit the websites yourself.

Until next time.

Regards,
Jason Aaron Anthonius