Free Social Networking Sites

Choosing a Social Network

Social networking sites are Web pages that connect people. If you're new to social networking, you'll want to do a little homework before you decide which one you want to join. Consider your priorities before you go shopping for a social network. For instance:

• Are you in college and looking to meet people your own age?
• Are you a businessperson looking for networking opportunities?
• Are you a woman looking to share your experiences with other women?
• Do you want to meet other people of your ethnic group, religion or nationality?
• Do you want to talk to people who share a common interest, hobby or passion with you?

Once you know what you are looking for, it will be a lot easier for you to find the best social network for you.

Popular Free Social Networking Sites

If you did a Web search for free social networking sites, the first ones that would pop up would probably be MySpace, Facebook and Friendster. These are three of the more popular social networking sites, with MySpace having the largest membership.

Friendster was the most popular social networking site in the early 2000s, and it is still particularly popular in Asia. Facebook and MySpace are more popular in the United States and Europe.

Originally Facebook was only open to people from Harvard, then the Ivy League schools, and slowly all universities and high schools had access to the site. Now it is open to everyone older than 13. [What is MySpace|MySpace]] has always been inclusive and has a somewhat more youthful feel, though both can be used for networking, meeting people to date or for finding new friends.

If you're interested in a more specific genre of social networking site, check out Wikipedia's list of social networking sites. This list will give you an idea of what different kinds of social networks are out there, how large they are and if you have to be invited to join or can go sign yourself up.

Using Social Networking

Once you have narrowed down the list of free social networking sites that you find interesting, visit the sites and see what you can find out about what goes on there. You usually can't do a lot of looking around without signing up, but it's a good idea to at least read the site FAQs and security information before joining.

Once you're signed up for a social network, you'll want to set up your profile and see if any of your real-life friends are currently on the network. Each site has a different way of doing this, but they make it as easy as possible for you to find friends and add information about yourself.

You can also search for friends by name of browse the people who are in your location to find people you know. And once you are linked to friends, you can see their friends, which may lead you to other people you know (or other people you'd like to know).

This is part of the fun of social networking. Don't just sign up, add your profile and wander away. Check in at least once a week to see if there are any new people you want to hook up with, make additions to your profile, comment on other people's pages and so on. In other words, be social.

Social networking does not have to take a lot of time, but the benefits can be great, whether you're looking to make new friends, find a business partner or make a love connection.