It took a long time before I joined Friendster. I had a few requests before I caved in. Well, I didn’t want my little sister to feel as though I was ignoring her, so I signed up when she sent me an invitation. And, even though I do visit it every now and then (when I get new friend requests, messages, testimonials), I’m still not in to it in a big way. If not for my friends and family who are all in to Friendster, I probably won’t be using the site that much — it’s just too clunky and messy for my taste.

Another family member (my brother this time) invited me to Zorpia, a photo-sharing-meets-social-networking site. It’s interesting, but site navigation and purpose is lost on me (who knows what the points are for anyway?! ). So, even though I sent some invitations I haven’t really gotten in to it at all.

A few months ago, I received a request to join LinkedIn. I took one look and signed up. I did not visit it again until today. I’m hoping this would be more useful for me as I further explore the world of networking.

That’s right. I’m actively trying to expand my network. So yesterday, I found myself signing up for Ryze - yes, without an invitation. This site shows some promise. I’m excited to see how I can work with this and vice versa.

I wonder what your experiences are with online social networking? Have you tried other social networking sites? What have you tried and what are they like?