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20 Top Social Networks

Non-English Social Networks

Mobile Social Networks

Social Networking Websites and Target Marketing
A Guide to Social Networking sites around the World

Social networking sites are growing at an enormous rate, with leading US sites getting huge numbers of participants. We rank a list of the top social networking sites below.

During the last couple of years many new social networks have come to the marketplace but just a handful of global brands are dominating - at least in the English-speaking countries. There are important differences in the demographics of the communities served, for example, some sites are largely for teenagers while others are for older market segments.

Marketing professionals wishing to engage with these communities need to understand their differences. Social networking companies often generate much hype when attempting to attract user members or when looking for venture capital funding. (Twitter and Second Life have far fewer active members than their market profile would suggest).

Social Networks in Non-English Language Communities

Because there are differences in culture, language and context, local social networking communities are also growing strongly in such countries as Korea, China, Japan, Brazil and India.

In some countries, such as China, social networking sites do not always follow the "Facebook" model. Chinese social network sites, in particular, are more likely to be blended with mobile phone-oriented applications, such as instant messaging, or else combined with massively multi-player online game sites. In India, there are a number of important social networking sites which are serious marrage match-making sites.

20 Top Social Networking Sites
Facebook	236 million	WW unique visitors in Jan 09
MySpace	126 million	WW unique visitors in Jan 09
YouTube	71 million	WW unique visitors in Feb 09
Friendster	61 million	WW unique visitors, Aug 08 (100 million registered users)
Hi5	60 million	WW unique visitors, Jan 09 (has 70 million registered members, many in Mexico & South America)
Orkut	50 million	WW members (mainly in Brazil & India), March 09
Classmates	50 million	USA, March 09
xiaonei	40 million	China members, Dec 2008. Claims market leadership.
QZone	40 million (est)	China IM & social networking combined 200 million users Jan 09.
LinkedIn	35 million	WW members, March 09
Bebo	22 million	WW unique visitors Jan 09, mainly UK
Mixi	22 million	Japan members, March 09
Cyworld	22 million	Korea members, 2008
Friends Reunited	19 million	WW Members, March 09
Bharat Matrimony	15 million	India March 09
iPart	14 million	Taiwan Members, Dec 08
kaixin001.com	10 million (est)	China, new in 2008, growing fast
Kaixinwang	9 million	China,Feb 09
Twitter	6 million	WW Users Feb 09
Second Life	1 million	WW active users in Feb 09

Mobile Social Networks

Mobile social networks are especially popular in countries where ownership of mobile phones is much greater than computer ownership. There are currently five types of mobile social networks:

SMS Messaging Networks like Wadja
Friend/Community Networks such as Facebook
Personal Content Networks (Photos and Blogging) like Flickr
Location-Based Social Networks such as Brightkite
Dating Networks like Passions Network

Examples of lesser-known mobile-specific social networking sites include ZYB, MocoSpace and Mig 33.

Mobile versions of the leading social networking services including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are also available. There are a number of free, device specific mobile social networking applications, such as Facebook for BlackBerry, MySpace Mobile and TwitterBerry.

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Social Networking Websites and Target Marketing A Guide to Social Networking sites around the World

Social Networks in Non-English Language Communities

Mobile Social Networks

Social Networking Websites and Target Marketing
A Guide to Social Networking sites around the World