Top 20 Social Networks Ranked

There are a great many social networks in existence today. Too many. It?s an industry inside an industry, and it?s starting to get stretched thin.

By now you?ve probably found your favorite among the choices. If you?re a die-hard music fan, you?ve probably skipped over MySpace for a more specialized circle, one with plenty of audiophiles and talk of underground scenes thriving beneath the radar. Perhaps you?d like to have more sophisticated discourse. There are places to get your intellectual fix, too. So have you ever wished to know where your social network stands among others?

Hitwise, an online establishment who?s purpose is to track trends and chart statistics (a zeitgeist; a potpourri of information), watched the social networking scene over the course of a month (January to February 2007), and has some pretty profound findings.

Number one on the list needs no introduction. MySpace reigns the world, and whether we like it or not, it?s going to remain king of the mountain. It?s hated by many, tolerated by more, and strangely loved by the majority. But did you think that it ever had close to 80% of the market? (80.74% is the precise figure.)

That makes you wonder what paltry amount of the pie the runner up has been able to amass over its equally brief history. Facebook, the digital landscape the ?MySpace exodus? allegedly flocks to in droves was able to claim just 10.32% as of February. And in relation to #2, #3 (Bebo) can vouch for a mere 1.18%.

The rest of the field more or less scrounges for members MySpace and Facebook have been unsuccessful in attracting. Numbers 4 through 10 are: BlackPlanet, Xanga, iMeem, Yahoo! 360, Classmates, Hi5, and Tagged, respectively. They?ve been able to build  0.67-0.88% shares for themselves.

The remaining top twenty social networking sites:

LiveJournal ? 0.49%

GaiaOnline ? 0.48%

Friendster ? 0.34%

Orkut ? 0.26%

Microsoft?s Live Spaces ? 0.18%

HoverSpot ? 0.18%

Buzznet ? 0.18%

Sconex ? 0.14%

MiGente ? 0.11%

MyYearbook ? 0.11%