[Web] Specialized Social Networks

Have you all noticed how social networks seem to be getting more and more specific? Of course we still have the major players like MySpace and Friendster dominating their respective markets while attempting to be the end-all, be-all sites for all your social networking needs. On the other hand, there are smaller, more focused social networking sites popping up here and there.

I started thinking about this when Webware posted an entry about a social bookmarking service for books called Shelfari, which definitely looks very promising. I admit that I'm a major book geek and sites like this, which are designed to help you find more books that you may potentially like based on your current library, definitely appeal to me.

This reminded me of Flixster, a social network that focuses on movies, which a friend of mine introduced to me some time back. I didn't sign up at the time since I was trying to get away from the get-as-many-friends-as-you-can culture of the big social networking sites. However the concept behind this site also appealed to me and signing up was definitely tempting.

There are surely more sites out there with specialized topics such as iLike, which is all about music, which definitely seems to be a growing trend these days. Are we trying to get away from the jack-of-all-trades style social networks and moving towards more meaningful ones? I have to admit the thought appeals to me and it gives the sites a lot more usefulness and meaning as compared to being sites dedicated to just indicating how many supposed "friends" you have in the world.

Do you know of any specialized social networks? Leave a comment and talk about the ones you like best! Or if you think that we shouldn't leave the big ones like MySpace or Friendster, you can talk about that too. The Geeky Guide wants to hear your ideas!