In many ways 2006 will be remembered as the year Internet social networking came of age. Since 2003 hundreds of social network services have been created. Wikipedia describes social network services as follows :

Social network services allow people to come together online around shared interests or causes. For example, some sites provide dating services where users will post their personal profiles, location, age, gender, etc, and are able to search for a partner. Other shared goals or interests include business networking (Ryze and Linked In), emotionally supportive phone counseling (Phone Buddies), social event meetups (Meetup), or recreational hobbies.

Social Network Services Reference Material

Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad? - essay by Danah Boyd

Social networks - future portal or fad? by Stefanie Olsen

The Network Unbound by Anya Kamenetz

Here comes the family 2.0 sites by Stefanie Olsen

Social Networks Aim for Niches by Liz Gannes

Social Networking for Bookworms by Aaron Rutkoff

His Space by Spencer Reiss

Nike : It’s not a shoe it’s a community by Stanley Holmes

Cyworld attacks! by Erick Schonfeld

Niche competitors crown into MySpace + The MySpace invaders by Thomas K.Arnold

Communispace introductory video

Has blogging and social networking changed the marketing game at Stanford Summit

The New Tastemakers by Jeff Leeds

Wallflower at the Web Party by Gary Rivlin

Turning social network traffic into dollars by Stefanie Olsen

The high priestess of internet friendship by Graham Bowley

Europe’s Xing.com - The LinkedIn.com killer?! by Carsten Cumbrowski

LindedIn : The MySpace for adults by Michael V. Copeland

IBM to Introduce Workers Networking Software by Laurie Flynn

IBM’s Social Networking Push by Steve Hamm

A taxonomy of Social Networks by Liz Gannes

List of “White Label” social networking platforms by Jeremiah Owyang

Say Everything by Emily Nussbaum

A social site where webcams rule by Stefanie Olsen

Site owners mull build-or-sell options by Michael Liedtke

Social Networking’s Next Phase by Brad Stone

The future president on your friends list - by Alex Williams

WSJ Weekend interview with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg by Andy Kessler

Cold Cash From A Hot Site by Rupert Murdoch

The crowded, crowded world of social networks by eMarketer

Facebook’s plan to hook up the world by David Kirkpatrick

Finding a date - on the spot by Jessica E. Vascellaro

9 Ways to Build Your Own Social Network by Mark Hendrickson

Facebook grows up by Steven Levy

Microsoft to pay $240m for stake in Facebook by Brad Stone

Facebook is marketing your brand preferences by Louise Story

Inbox 2.0:Yahoo & Google to turn email into a social network by Saul Hansell

New social networking site for artists by CBR

Friending ancient or otherwise by Alex Wright

From MySpace to YourSpace by Brian Stelter

LinkedIn founder has golden touch by Michael Liedtke

Scrabulous and the new social operating system by Knowledge@Wharton

Rupert Murdoch’s new startup incubator by Aaron Ricadela

After stumbling Facebook finds a working eraser by Maria Aspan

Social Network Services

Adegga : wine

A small world : private social network

Bebo : schools and colleges

Bolt : video, images, music

Classmates : school, college, work and military

Cyworld : South Korea (US launch planned in Summer 06′)

Dodgeball : mobile location connector

Dogster : pets

Eons : 50 plus

Facebook : college and high school

Famster : closed networking site for families

Flickr : image sharing

Friendster : general

Gaia Online : youth community

Great games experiment : gamers

HabboHotel : 3D chatroom

Hive7 : 3D chatroom

Joga : soccer

openkapaw : developers

Last.fm : music

LibraryThing : books

LinkedIn : business

MeetMoi : dating

Meetup : social events

Minti : parenting advice

Mog : music

myartinfo : art

MySpace : general

Stickam : webcam

TagWorld : general

TeamSugar : women

Tired & Tested : sports

Tripmates : travel

Twitter : stream of consciousness

Upcoming : social event calendar

Wallop : personal

WAYN : travel

Xing : business

YouthNoise : social network for social change

Zecco : investing

Zoodango : business

Social Network Platforms & Tools

Are You Here : mobile social software platform by clicmobile

Five Across : platform for social networking and communities

GoingOn : the network of networks

Ning : white label social network hosting provider

PeopleAggregator : social network web service

Urbanseeder : next generation P2P social software

Userplane : communication software for online communities