More on Where Niche Social Networking is Going

I recently wrote about niche social networking and what shape this trend is taking. While doing more research to find out what is happening outside the United States, I came across an interesting posting by Mark Sweney, who writes for the British newspaper The Guardian. In Facebook Sees First Dip in UK Users, he reports that Facebook shed around 400,000 UK unique users month on month, following an impressive 17 consecutive months of growth, according to the research. This is the first drop Nielsen Online has recorded in Facebook's user numbers in the UK. Equally interesting are the comments to his posting.

Meanwhile, more sites are opting for a more global or a non-US audience. Sites like Sonico, Hi5 and Orkut are slowly but surely developing loyal followers in specific locations and languages. In February, LinkedIn, the networking site for professionals, opened its first office in London. It expects to double its customer base in the U.K. to 2 million this year. These networks are niche in terms of their language and the audience they target. The next phase may be the likes of CafeMom, and MothersClick, and other niche social networking sites starting to develop in regions where currently there are none.