Feeling left out of the social networking revolution? There are many ways you can get involved. If MySpace () or Friendster (), two of the most popular networking sites, don鈥檛 sound your cup of tea and you鈥檙e too old for Bebo (, mainly for teenagers) and Facebook (, for students 鈥� though it does have a business arm), you could try one of the more specialised sites. If you work in the life sciences, go to to chat to others in the field about everything from algal blooms to zebrafish. There鈥檚 a global community of photographers at , and one for travellers and explorers at . If you care about human rights and protecting the environment, you鈥檒l find like-minded people at or .
At you鈥檒l find a community of music lovers. If you are looking for a job or thinking of changing the one you have, try or . There鈥檚 a huge online book club at , described as the 鈥淢ySpace for bookworms鈥�, and another of a different kind at . You could find long-lost relatives at , other mothers to talk to at , or lovers to date at . You鈥檙e never too old for this: is exclusively for over-50s. If you would like to social network but aren鈥檛 sure which website to try, might help. It matches people with the kind of network they are looking for and gives advice to parents worried about their children鈥檚 use of these sites.
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Explore the other features in New 杏吧原创鈥檚 guide to the social networking revolution:
This is your space 鈥� Discover how social networking evolved, how it works and how it is already revolutionising the way we live, socialise and work
I鈥檒l have to ask my friends 鈥� Instant messaging, Wi-Fi and cellphones allow us to be constantly plugged into our social networks. Sociologist Sherry Turkle worries this is transforming human psychology
The end of privacy? 鈥� You wouldn鈥檛 tell a stranger on the bus about your sexual habits, so why do people reveal this stuff on websites available to everyone? Will their openness return to haunt them?
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by Google 鈥� A short story by Bruce Sterling
The internet could be so much better 鈥� Social networking websites like MySpace or YouTube owe everything to the genius of Ted Nelson, who invented hypertext in the 1960s
