Odnoklassniki - Russia

Rather popular in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, Odnoklassniki is a social networking service for classmates and friends. Launched in 2006, the site claims more than 45 million registered users, to be mostly highly educated men under the age of 35. Communication languages are Russian and Ukrainian. With a sizable amount of revenues and a few awards, Odnoklassniki currently boasts 69th at the Alexa internet traffic ranking service.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

kaioo - Germany

Founded on a truly social, democratic and completely independent basis, kaioo is what German executives envisaged and created. It is a non-profit social community offering the standard features of social networking websites. Users can create profiles and add user generated content (pictures, etc), join groups, communicate with friends and express interest in other users via the "match" feature. Groups can favor specific charities that receive donations at the end of the year, proportional only to their support among users. There are two external wikis, one in German, one in English, where users can discuss, share their thoughts on, and modify the Data Protection and Privacy Guidelines. It's truly remarkable, but since all data belong to the users, they get to decide how it is handled, thus modifying the general terms and conditions. The purpose of the company is clearly stated: "support of science and research, education, art and culture, assistance to young and old people, support of public health services, support of indigent and destitute persons, of environment protection, the preservation of nature and monuments, help for persons persecuted on political and racial grounds or for religious reasons as well as for refugees, expellees, evacuees, war victims, war widows and orphans, the war-disabled and prisoners of war and support for development aid."

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

beRecruited - US

Created first to serve exclusively NCAA swimming and diving, beRecruited became so successful as to now serve athletes and coaches from 31 different sports. This unique online networking community provides a platform for student athletes to secure recruitment from college coaches and universities. Potential recruits can connect and interact with college coaches, research and build profiles of verified athletic and academic information, research information on universities across the nation. Features of this networking destination include a vast and searchable database with more than 800,00 registered student athletes, 18,000 college coaches and 25,000 high school & club coaches, and 25,000 parents. Featured athletes, high schools, colleges, a resource center, sports camps, video companies, training material, news & media with photos, videos and blogs.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

Barmano - US

With the founder's aspirations to be a comprehensive resource for "all things bar", including exceptional people and happenings of the beverage and bar industry, Barmano was met with such enthusiasm as to now include more than 53,000 bars in 59 countries and showing no signs of stopping yet! Many cultures and traditions around the world share common elements of pastime like enjoying a great drink, engaging in good conversation and discovering new places. This social networking community, with extended presence in other social communities like Twitter and Facebook, offers members a wide array of features. Reviewing and ranking different places, focusing on award winning, classic and signature cocktails from many spirit brands, catalogued by cocktail name, category, ingredient, flavor and alcohol, sharing information on favorite bars, taverns, clubs and lounges in a massive worldwide bar guide, finding upcoming beverage industry events along with listings for concerts with live music in bars and clubs, are but a few of these features that make contributors so passionate about this place!

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

BakeSpace - US

Culinary artists, professional or amateur, have a great meeting salon in the online universe to unfurl aspects of their passion, share unique recipes, build new friendships, learn from one another and share morsels of their food-related wisdom. Being a grassroots online community, BakeSpace is a social gathering in a virtual kitchen, where food, friends, family and great conversation are always the base ingredients for guaranteed gourmet delicacies! Membership is free and recipes are creative, passionate and diverse as the members who post them. Finding a recipe is the beginning of an exiting venture, where BakeSpace users can post, search and swap recipes in real time, build and customize their own online kitchen, browse the forums, upload videos, create blogs, share their passions and learn from other members through a unique mentor program. This award winner independent community has been in the limelight since 2006 and keeps growing stronger!

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

 

Asoboo - Japan

Creative, internationally-minded people have another place in the world wide web to call their own, Asoboo. Registration is free and members have a large variety of features at their disposal. They can create and customize their own profile, keep or import an existing blog, add Flickr and Twitter accounts, embed Youtube videos in comments or emails, start new or join already existing groups with people who share the same interests, create a list of favorite media and add new ones like books, games, movies, music, share reviews of favorite places, contribute any information about events in Tokyo, browse an extended job database and keep a profile with applications and resumes.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

Quartzy - US

Created by highly qualified scientists primarily to meet the everyday needs of academics conducting research around the world, Quartzy is the apex of online laboratory management systems with regard to research of biochemical reagents. Increased scientific productivity often flows from a combination of elements, chief among those being the improvement of organization and communication within and between laboratories. To that effect, members of Quartzy can upload and share their existing Excel inventories and protocols, add items from hosted databases and review comments, add types and create relevant descriptive fields, further customize their own inventories adding reagents from a list of integrated vendors, streamline their ordering so lab-managers can efficiently respond by email, link inventories with LabMates, create shared facilities (microscopes, PCR machines) for people to book time on. Membership is free and feedback is always welcome on this professional networking service.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

 

Americasbookshelf.com - US

Following their passion and love for all works of literature, Bill and Deb Denkler wanted to broaden people's access to it, while, at the same time, providing a convenient way to share books. So, a social networking site, Americasbookshelf.com, was born. Based on the principle of book exchange between individuals, without central distribution or warehousing, they succeded in making book swapping a lifestyle beneficial for the environment and easy and affordable for those involved. Members can order and exchange books from the comfort of their homes, and books are delivered to their door. Membership costs $12 annually and there are no late fees or due dates. Gift certificates as well as a book credit system are also features of this online community.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

AgentB - US

AgentB is a thriving online community dedicated to finding and sharing all sorts of shopping deals in the web. Joining is free and members of this collective effort vote (or "buzz") on their favorite deals to move them up a ranking system. With the help of AgentB widgets and tools, keeping track of favorite deals and posting them free on the community, not only saves users money and time, but also help promote otherwise unknown shopping opportunities from various product categories and featured deal sites. Members can also rate and comment on their favorite deals, share them with friends and acquaintances, and discover new ones.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

indyarocks - India

One of India's most popular entertainment websites, indyarocks is an online community and mobile social entertainment platform with a target base of Indians across the world. With free registration and an unlimited freedom of expression, members can build and expand their network of contacts inviting, exploring and sharing with friends, families, classmates, co-workers, artists, organizations and generally anyone interested in the rich Indian culture. Staying in touch with existing relationships and getting introduced to new people, members can share interests and hobbies, contacts and free games, unlimited photos, videos, music, blogs, bollywood reviews and content, views and opinions. Other notable features include free sms, chat rooms, instant messaging and a continuously evolving mobile platform to render the social networking experience as easy and gratifying as possible. The website reports a user base of more than 3,5 million members and growing.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

InterNations - Germany

Maintaining a network of personal trust, where privacy protection and data security rank top among the project's priorities, InterNations is an international social network service reaching out to expatriates around the world: members of IGOs and NGOs, foreign correspondents, diplomats, multinational companies' employees and their family members, local residents with strong ties to this community, and students are some of the groups catered for by this endeavor. The online platform of InterNations uses a strict invitation-based policy where members and their families living and working abroad can interact through forums, newsgroups, a private messaging service and other common social networking tools. Points of strong interest are international relations and international business with focus specifically on issues like relocation, foreign affairs, expatriate housing and institutions, socializing and leisure. Not uncommon are user-generated guides for every local community features, such as restaurants, clubs, expatriate institutions and health care. Of particular interest are intercultural programs offering under-privileged students from all over the world the opportunity to live abroad and receive an international education. With an international mindset and a multicultural background or place of residence, this young start-up company claims, as of 2009, over 100,000 users in more than 250 cities around the world.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

italki.com - China

Italki.com is an online community dedicated exclusively to learning foreign languages. Funded by Chinese and American investors, the community, available in 30 languages, combines the merits of a social network and a marketplace. The construct of language learning is supported by three different pillars: social learning, self-study and paid professional lessons. People from around the world meet online for free language exchanges, students connect with teachers for paid lessons, and complete language learning tools are available for free, such as Q&As, group discussions, and multimedia materials for self-study. The social aspects of Italki.com connect native speakers with foreign language learners, spread teachers' expertise to anyone, anywhere around the world, offer multimedia and private lessons for English (for the time being; other languages will be added soon), utilize text, voice and video, use the wisdom of crowds to answer language questions, share free open-source language learning materials and recommend other resources on the web. More than 500,000 users from over 200 countries speaking more than 100 languages, 4,700 teachers and tutors, more than 3,200 files to download and over 500 links to language resources, all testify to the need for language learning internationally and the inevitable success of the website's undertaking.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

IRC-Galleria - Finland

Founded in December 2000, IRC-Galleria is the largest social networking website in Finland. The primary goal of the highly-localized website is to create a photo gallery for users of the Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Membership is free and open to Finnish-speaking users 12 years and older. Features of this online community include a photo gallery (per regular or VIP user profile with at least one accepted image; different account types also indicate the number of images allowed), short messages, comments, and communities (at most 100 communities per user) which are representations of actual IRC channels. Russia, Estonia and Germany are also countries IRC-Galleria operates in. As of 2009, the website reported over 9 million images and 500,000 registered users, 90% of whom are active on a weekly basis.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

 

Hospitality Club - Germany

The Hospitality Club is an international internet-based organization with approximately 553,000 members in 226 countries. Unlike any other social networking projects, the sole purpose of the club is to provide hospitality services, coordinating accommodation and providing guidance to travelers around the world. The organization is open to anybody and registration is free. No money is involved at any stage of the exchange of accommodation, and conditions are sorted beforehand, such as duration of stay, food provided for free, for a fee or not at all, travel-related guidance etc. The main security measure is reputation-building and commenting by host and guest is encouraged. A popular feature is the travel guide forums and wikis. It is remarkable the the club is based on the work of hundreds of volunteers globally.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

Habbo - Finland

Habbo (formerly known as Habbo Hotel) is a social networking website aimed at the teenage generation. What started as a project for a Finnish ISP, quickly escalated into a multinational endeavor encompassing multiple communities and spanning many continents. With more than 8 million unique visitors per month and an average of 75,000 avatars created per day, it has become a definite success with the teenage population. Features of Habbo include recommended chat rooms, popular group pages, user pages, user interest tags, special groups, discussion forums, email, public rooms, games, guest rooms, while transactions use two types of currency, credits and Pixels.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

Grono.net - Poland

Grono.net is a social networking website in Poland currently registering over 2 million members. Features of this online community include many discussion forums, photo sharing, finding localized cultural events in cities, job hunting and property selling. Registration is free but requires invitation from one of the members. There are a few additional features for paying members, such as private forum moderation, competitions, larger volume of photo uploading, no on-site advertisements.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).
 

Gossipreport.com - US

Gossipreport.com is a social networking website based around the ability of users to anonymously gossip about anyone else. This online community gives members the freedom to build anonymously profiles, not of themselves but someone else, with all sorts of information, including uploading photos and posting gossip about them. The website created a lot of buzz with heated debates over free speech versus right to privacy online.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).
 

Goodreads - US

Goodreads, in an ambitious mission to improve the processes of reading and learning globally, is the largest social networking website for avid readers in the world. Members of this online community are able to recommend books to one another, share thoughts on what they are reading, keep track of what they have read and a wish list of books to read, form groups and book clubs, share suggestions, create and retrieve trivia about books, create lists of the best books and post their own writing. Taking into account the 3 million members and their 78 million books on their shelves, the success of Goodreads's mission is guaranteed.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).

 

Gays.com - Hong Kong

Often referred to as "the gay Facebook", Gays.com is a social networking website primarily centered around lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender people. Based in Hong Kong and launched in time to coincide with the sixth International Day Against Homophobia, it is designed for real people with real names and actual relationships. It offers members the ability to upload as many photos ans videos as they like free of charge. Other features include gay venues in cities around the world, connect with and meet new friends, explore friends interconnections with an interactive visual tool, and master the amount and visibility of personal information posted on a user's profile.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).
 

GamerDNA - US

The need for a centralized community like this stems from the overwhelming amount of game news and games floating around, thus making useful navigation an extremely arduous task. Enter GamerDNA,  a social networking website for computer and video game players. It provides information through tags on games members have played, server names and guild affiliations, tools to help game players find people they have played with in the past, guilds and gamers to play with based on game style. Other features include automated game tracking, a database of games organized according to game play elements, and quizzes to help members pinpoint aspects of game play they are interested in and subsequently form connections with other players with similar interests. Storage of game histories, guild/clan memberships, scores and profiles, and screenshots of game accomplishments are all highlights of this online community.

Social networks comprehensive list (work in progress).