20 most popular
social networking sites *†

Who visits all those sites, anyway?

 

1. facebook.com
2. MySpace
3. twitter
4. LinkedIn.com
5.classmates.com
6. Ning.com
7. Bebo.com
8. HI5.com
9. Tagged.com
10. myyearbook.com
11. Multiply.com
12. friendster.com
13. Meetup
14. BlackPlanet
15. Gaia Online
16. Piczo
17. orkut.com
18. FotoLog.com
19. Skyrock.com
20. badoo.com

*April 2009 | eBizMBA
†Ranked by a combination of Inbound Links, Alexa Rank, and U.S. traffic data from Compete and Quantcast. Although no traffic metrics are completely accurate we dbelieve the data to be useful for gauging relative audience size.| eBizMBA

Within the 20 most popular social networking sites are some real gems for small businesses networking. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Hi5 and BlackPlanet are great for targeting specific demographics, and creating your own virtual communities. Bloggers, overall, are generally well educated:

• Three out of every four are college graduates.
  

• Most bloggers are white males reporting above-average incomes.
  

• One out of three young people reports blogging.
  

Some of the sites on the list, such as classmates.com, myyearbook.com and FotoLog.com and others, focus on very specific, personal interests, such as catching up with former classmates, military or former work friends, or posting photos. Some, LinkedIn and Plaxo are focused on professional networking. Some have more specific demographics such as Bebo (Hispanic, especially popular in Latin America), Friendster (Asian, most popular in Asia), and BlackPlanet (African American). One, aSmallWorld has a membership restricted to the uber-connected, and apparently wealthy with primarily London, New York and Paris addresses. It is strictly invitation-only.

Social Networking sites are starting to hit their stride. Facebook and LinkedIn are even starting to be used like Google for researching people and companies.

For more specific site demographics and charts, read The 2008 Social Network Analysis Report -Geographic - Demographic and Traffic Data Revealed by Brian Chappell, Nov. 19, 2008.