MySpace no longer the one place to hang out online

ST. LOUIS - Social networks are the bars and nightclubs of the Internet.

Some cater to folks looking for a quiet evening on the town. Others offer a spot to share a quick story and a cold beer after a long day at work. And then there are those places where you can usually count on someone drinking too much and taking off their clothes.

Picking a social network, like choosing a favorite bar, isn't always easy. It must appeal to the people you're trying to find.

"There's no point in being on a social networking site if none of your friends are there," said Danah Boyd, a researcher at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley.

But in an arena that grows more competitive each day, the personality of the individual sites becomes increasingly important in attracting and keeping people. It's no longer enough to simply offer a way to share thoughts, music and photos. The novelty is wearing off.

Heavyweights Facebook and MySpace face competitors both new and old, each trying to capitalize on our collective desire to connect with one another. You or someone you know is on MySpace. But what about Plaxo, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Readr, Iminta, Pownce, Posterous, Bebo, Hi5 or Plurk?

Most people don't have the time, energy or inclination to stake out so many corners of the Internet.

Like Reuben Malicoat of Swansea, Ill., they make a choice. After two years with MySpace, the former Marine decided to switch to Facebook for his social networking. MySpace users, he said, are a little too absorbed in socializing and partying.

"At 23, I've got to start thinking about the future," Malicoat said. After a few days on Facebook he opted for its "more mature crowd."

What's ideal for Malicoat, though, does nothing for Ali Thornsberry of St. Charles, Mo., who sees Facebook, with its Ivy League origins, as stodgy and restrictive. It's one of the big differences between the two sites -- MySpace grants users freedom to customize their pages, while Facebook enforces a uniform appearance. Some call MySpace garish; others tout its freewheeling ways.

"MySpace seems more modern-looking," Thornsberry said. "Facebook just seems like it's old."

For a site that's been around for just over four years to be branded "old" demonstrates one of the challenges facing social networks. Rapid changes in technology and platforms threaten to send users scurrying to newer ventures. Consider, for instance, the growing popularity of microblogging services like Twitter, which allows users to fire off short messages to friends through their cell phones.

A year ago, MySpace was far and away the dominant player, collecting 114 million unique visitors worldwide in June 2007, compared with just 52 million for Facebook, according to ComScore, a firm that measures Internet traffic. A year later, Facebook had hammered its way into the lead with 132 million unique visits vs. 117 million for MySpace.

In the United States, however, MySpace maintained its dominance with nearly twice as many unique visitors. Still, even in the domestic market, Facebook is growing nearly twice as fast, according to ComScore.

Figuring out which of the younger upstarts might challenge the status quo is anyone's guess.

LinkedIn has proven popular with career-oriented adults, with more than 4 million unique visitors in June, more than doubling its 2007 total, according to ComScore. But with a more corporate approach to networking -- this isn't the place to go for updates on friends' weekend party plans -- the site seems to lack a more broad-based appeal.

The next frontier in social networking, most experts say, is likely to be the mobile realm, relying on increasingly smarter cell phones instead of personal computers.

That's what Loopt is aiming for with its GPS sharing system that keeps users up-to-date on the whereabouts of others in their network. Want to share a cab? Looking to grab a quick lunch with a friend? Need help with a flat tire? A Loopt-like network could make it much easier to reach out to friends in your network.

FriendFeed offers a similar service, essentially keeping your friends up-to-date on the things you do online. Then there's Seesmic. Instead of trading written comments on a forum, users post responses in short video clips.

It could be that the future of social networking is smaller rather than bigger.

"In some ways, MySpace and Facebook have gotten too big," said Matt Carlson, an assistant professor of communications at St. Louis University. "People are going out and getting all these friends. But sometimes, these are people we don't have any real connection to."