Comments on: 5 international social networks to keep an eye on

Facebook and MySpace may lead the pack in the U.S., but there are a slew of leading social networks from around the world that we don't hear about on a daily basis. Don Reisinger takes a look at five.

[aniruddh.dodiya]

In India there is a big competition in social networking websites like orkut.com, ibibo.com and bigadda.com, in.com. of course orkut is a clear winner and having a large Indian user..

[nowimcool]

I have more than one Korean friend, and according to them, Cyworld is absolutely crazy in S. Korea (from what I can tell a lot of it is cultural) ... unlike facebook/myspace the user knows who has been on his page (which in N. America wouldn't go over well at all!) and in Korea it's extremely disrespectful to NOT immediately go on to that persons page, thus the infinite loop begins - and people surf that site all day!!

I'm happy with one social website. When I made the move to Facebook I ditched Myspace. Life is too busy for one, no need for two.

[Joe_Constanty]

You bring up some good examples of facebook clones internationally. Being that I am an American entrepreneur in China running NextStepDirectory.com, I must stay on top of all China related social media. A big one in China that you missed that is hugely successful with a slightly older (25-35) professional crowd is KaiXing001.com. They receive 300,000,000 pv a day.

From SNS sites to Twitter clones. You may want to have a look there too. There are already several players in the Chinese marketplace.

http://www.Fanfou.com, http://www.Jiwai.com and http://www.zuosa.com

[afratta]

eZanga?s social network, HopOnThis.com has refreshed the way they distribute content, and added a way to build and maintain relationships along with expanding your online community. They reward registered users with points to use toward cash and prizes just for interacting on the site. Some of the ways to earn points are: updating a blog, inviting a friend, and adding a picture. They also offer features such as page personalization, drag-and-drop features, unlimited space for photos, and much more. HopOnThis offers a productive social experience, while adding to the strength of advertiser?s campaigns.

[taweili--2008]

"Much like Japan's top social network, Mixi, no third-party apps are allowed on the service [Xiaonei], though."

Xiaonei has opened its platform since July 2008 and there are currently over 500 third party apps running on the open platform.

[Oscarito1979]

Hey,

Some very interesting social networks here... They are certainly worth a look at even if you are not from any of the relevant countries in which some have a strong base.
However, there are a few competitors that have not been mentioned in my opinion. Sites such as SocialGO found at www.socialgo.com is one to look out for in 2009. It's basically a platform for creating your very own niche social network...basically you can create your own FaceBook or whatever. No doubt this sort of thing will catch on during the next year...