As the number of internet users rises, there seemed be many of social networks to cater to these large number of people who spend a portion of their time online regularly. People who have the inherent need to socialize in different levels of human interaction seemed to have incorporated this very characteristic in their online activity.

Thus we now have large social networking sites offering their services for people to connect with other people on the cyberspace. Whether for getting updates from a friend, sharing pictures, information or just having an platform on which to assert your ideas, these sites provide the usual a place of hangout.

And as the world wide web grows, so will these sites adapt and improve their service or die in the massive heap of competition. Now, we take a look at five of the most popular social networking sites.

Facebook: Perhaps the most widely used and fastest growing social networking site. Since its inception in February of 2004, the site has massively grown to boast of 400 million users worldwide and counting. Facebooks's interface makes it easy for users to connect with a friend, acquaintance and relatives online. Send and receive notification for important dates and events. Find anything amusing? No problem, share it to the world and make them laugh too.

Twitter: A microblogging platform that started since 2006. It allow its users to send messages or "tweets" composed of 140 characters. To receive the tweets of anyone, you will need to follow them. Famous people and celebrities caught on the twitter fever and somehow paved the way to be more exposed to their fan base through their tweets. Right now, twitter has about 100 million subscribers worldwide.

MySpace : One of the first social networks launched. It is a rival of Facebook in that it provide almost the same service. Additionally it also provides a healthy platform for budding artists with no record labels to have their music gain traction from audiences around the globe. However, due to Facebook's popularity, MySpace suffered a decrease in its active users.

LinkedIn : A social networking site mainly used for business purposes. It has an interface that allows you to upload a resume online and connect with other professionals.

Flickr : Another social whose main use is in storage and sharing of pictures. Ideal for those who are interested in photography or those who simply want to manage an album of pictures and share it to the world.

If you are a regular online user, there's the good chance that you may be a user of any one or all services of these social networks. If not, well, why not? It is your chance to have your own corner of space in the vast area that is the world wide web.