Holy social networks, Batman!

I knew there were quite a few social network sites out there for the choosing.  However, when I received my Social Thing invite, I found out there are more than I had ever imagined!

I personally use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, Photobucket, and LibraryThing.

But let’s back this post up a bit by explaining exactly what a social network is.

Now, for the online communities, Wikipedia has deemed these types of websites as “social network services.”

So, here is what Wikipedia has to say about “social network services”:
“A social network service uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.”

So, these social networks are basically websites and software that gets you “socializing.”  But even after I pulled up this page of tons of networks off of Social Thing, even pulling up the Wikipedia page on social network services, I found a few more!

There is no definite figure on how many actual social network sites are out there because the definition is so vague, almost anything can be considered a social network.  For instance, message forums used as online communities where like-minded members chat about different topics on software built for electronic bulletin boards like vBulletin, Invision, and phpBB.

I’d love to list them all on here, but other people have done that for me!  Mashable and Wikipedia has compiled their own lists of what are deemed “social network services”.  You can access Mashable’s list by clicking here, and Wikipedia’s by clicking here.

It all comes down to personal preference and what you can keep up with.  Social Thing seems promising as they intend to add more networks as they work out more bugs.  It is only a beta, invitation only stage.  The network itself to link to other networks is going to become a great asset since we all tend to sign up for what our friends are using.  This site allows you to keep up on ALL of your accounts through their website.  You are only allowed to sign into a handful of sites now, but hey – when you are onto a good thing, I would hope they would run with it and add more!

So, get out there and socialize online!  Make some new friends!  And if you want to be my friend, you can find out where I am at online by clicking here or visiting my Places I Go tab at the top of my blog!

Image #1 credit: Jean-Louis Bellurget; Image #2 credit: Image Source