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A new generation of social networking websites appeared in 2002 with the launch of Friendster, whose founder,

Friendster was an immediate success, with millions of registered users by mid-2003.

MySpace, launched in 2003, quickly to surpass it.

Besides MySpace and Friendster, the best-known social networking site is Facebook, launched in 2004.

Niche social networking sites are also flourishing:

Other niche social networking sites connect like-minded self-improvers;

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Social networking sites are also fertile ground for those who make it their lives’ work to get your attention—namely, spammers, marketers, and politicians.

. On MySpace and Facebook, for example, the process of setting up one’s online identity is relatively simple:

By contrast, Facebook limits what its users can do to their profiles. Besides general personal information, Facebook users have a “Wall” where people can leave them brief notes, as well as a Messages feature that functions like an in-house Facebook e-mail account. You list your friends on Facebook as well, but in general, unlike MySpace friends, which are often complete strangers (or spammers) Facebook friends tend to be part of one’s offline social circle.

Social networking websites “connect” users with a network—literally, a computer network. But the verb to network has long been used to describe an act of intentional social connecting, especially for professionals seeking career-boosting contacts. When the word first came into circulation in the 1970s, computer networks were rare and mysterious. Back then, “network” usually referred to television. But social scientists were already using the notion of networks and nodes to map out human relations and calculate just how closely we are connected.

There is a Spanish proverb that warns, “Life without a friend is death without a witness.” In the world of online social networking, the warning might be simpler: “Life without hundreds of online ‘friends’ is virtual death.” On these sites, friendship is the stated raison d’être. “A place for friends,” is the slogan of MySpace. Facebook is a “social utility that connects people with friends.” Orkut describes itself as “an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends.” Friendster’s name speaks for itself.

But “friendship” in these virtual spaces is thoroughly different from real-world friendship.