College social networking site, Xuqa, recently launched a new version of the site which they have deemed as Xuqa 2.0. From their site, Xuqa 2.0 is: “A giant online reality game played for fame and fortune between you, your friends, and 1,000,000 other players.” For those of you that are really unfamiliar with the site, Xuqa combines all of the social networking basics (Friend list, customizable profiles, etc.) with a competitive element of gaining a certain level status (1 -10) based on your fame (profile views) and inter-site fortune (peanuts). I don’t really want to get caught...

Business 2.0 recently ran an article that interviewed some of the top Venture Capitalists about startup ideas that they are anxious to invest in. Not suprisingly, one of those ideas from Jim Breyer, partner of Accel Partners, involves a social network. Jim Breyer was stated as willing to invest $10 Million in the following idea: “Social-networking sites may be sprouting like weeds, but none yet operates as a bona fide marketplace, with members buying and selling their own creations as much as they blog, link, and post. Breyer, who sits on Wal-Mart’s board, is interested in backing...

With the boom of social networking, what could be considered a great niche 3 months ago, is now being considered a common playing field. Areas that use to be deemed an under served niche, now have 3, 4, or even 5 + social networks aiming to serve the same space. Here are just a few examples: Athletic Training The recent launch of Traineo, makes the third social networking site to launch in the past 2 months targeting physical training, body building, and working out. Bulkd.com was the original on the scene, and bodybuilding.com’s BodySpace.com recently launched a few...

After receiving $3.1 million in funding only a few months ago, social networking veteran, Friendster, has received another $10 million from Palo Alto-based DAG Ventures. This comes at a time when the market is being flooded with new social networks and Myspace, Facebook, and Bebo seem to be dominating. Yes, Friendster has around 30 million users which is not too shabby, but how many of those users are active on a weekly basis? The only new development Friendster has announced with the new round of funding is the fact that they will be targeting 20 - 30 year olds. This is...

Univillage is another social network for college (or “uni” in the UK) students. The only difference is that they are going after the international space that Facebook has decided to avoid. While Univillage has a very clean and eye appealing design, along with some solid social networking features, I am currently not seeing anything strikingly unique. With the UK market being dominated by Myspace and Bebo, the ever so common question gets asked; can univillage attract users away? Probably not. But the reason I am writing about Univillage is to point out an incredibly annoying feature,...

Yes Yes, I know I have been extremely lame and went MIA for a couple months. But starting this weekend I will be back in action full time. I’ve been thinking a lot about the social networking scene lately and how it is impacting our lives. I hope to have some great stuff not only about new startups but also how the social networking scene is changing the social fabric of our lives. So where did I disappear to for the past couple months? I’ll let the imaginative minds out there come up with some guesses. But the important thing is that you need...