Niche Social Networks Want You

Posted by techgirl

Posted: January 30, 2009 - 3:40 am

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A baking social network?Contrary to popular belief, MySpace and Facebook aren't the only social networks around. There are social networks for almost any interest, no matter how obscure. Here are a few sample niche networks that are just waiting for you to join.

Gardening: My Folia - http://www.myfolia.com
Do you like to garden? My Folia helps you track your plants and gardens online. The site also encourages you to "share your gardening adventures" with others. Referred to as the "Facebook for Gardeners," the site says it is dedicated to the "art (and science) of gardening). Imagine: making new friends based on what each of you are gardening.

Travel: TripIt - http://www.tripit.com
Tripit is looking to be more than a place where you can share your travel plans and connect with others based on where you'll be traveling. Tripit also helps you organize all of your travel details in one place online including your flights, hotels and rental cars. You end up with a master travel itinerary. All I have to do to start a new trip entry is mail the travel itinerary I receive from Orbitz and Tripit immediately sorts out the flight information and starts a new itinerary for me. Then when I access my Tripit account, it lets me know which of my Tripit connections will be in the vicinity of my travels. A competitor network is Dopplr for real road warriors.

Hiking: MapMyHike - http://www.mapmyhike.com
If you love the outdoors and your activities revolve around hiking, you can map out your hikes, set goals for yourself, detail your gear and workouts, and then set up events and hiking groups. You can connect to others by searching for other events and signing up or looking for like-minded groups in your area and joining.

Baking: BakeSpace - http://www.bakespace.com
BakeSpace calls itself a Recipe Swap and Food Social Network and is for everything food, not just dedicated to the art of baking. In addition to posting and exchanging recipes with others, you can find or become a cooking mentor and receive the Daily Bite enewsletter for creative ideas with food.

As you can see, there is no limit to the types of social networking communities popping up online. What will they think of next? A social network for hamsters? Already there, of course - Hamsterster.com!

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