Tuesday 13 May 2008

Niche social networking 'set for growth'

Online advertisers wanting to tap into the 'next big thing' should consider looking at niche social networking sites, an industry expert has suggested.

Rachel Hawkes, co-founder and editor at Social Media Portal (SMP), explained that very specialist social network sites - such as those for pet lovers, baby boomers, firemen and even "shoe-obsessed women" - were becoming increasingly popular.

"The next biggest trend - which we are already seeing - is the growth of niche social networking sites and how users can interact with them when off the web," she added.

"There will be a growing demand for social networks to be more personal and more portable as people will want more and more to take the interaction and engagement they receive from networks with them on the go.

"We will most certainly see [social networking sites] more readily available on other devices such as mobile phones, smart phones and/or PDAs."

A recent study by Datamonitor suggested that the UK has the highest membership of social network sites in Europe and that 27 million Brits will use such sites by 2012.

Recently, Google launched its new Friend Connect system. This lets website owners easily add social networking facilities to their existing pages.

Category: Social Media

Technorati tags: social-media niche social networking growth