We pick out favorites for how to get and stay connected on the Web.
Admit it. You have a profile on at least one if not three or four of these sites. It all starts with that one little invite, and the next thing you know you’re surfing OurChart for a date, checking out a new band on MySpace and updating your résumé on GLEE. A recent Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs survey showed that queer women use social networking sites much more than straight gals. While sites like YouTube and Craigslist are visited most often, we prefer this crop of gay-friendly sites.
Bebo: They call themselves the next generation of social networking, and indeed Bebo is a pretty site. It boasts a clean design with all the features we’ve come to know and love, and Bebo welcomes input from users when developing new features.
FabFemme: Ladies only. FabFemme is social networking for lesbian and bisexual women who want to make friends in new areas, or find a date. The site has an invite feature that allows you to invite people in your network to hang out outside the virtual world.
Facebook: Aimed at the college set, Facebook has become one of the top 10 most visited sites on the Web. With tons of applications, there are endless possibilities for customizing your profile page.
Flickr: A photo-centric Web site, Flickr makes creating and sharing albums easy. It’s also a great place to see work by amateur and professional photographers or privately share your photos with family across the country.
GLEE: Gay, Lesbian and Everyone Else, like Community Connect Inc.’s other niche social networking sites (BlackPlanet, AsianAve and MiGente), has professional and personal networking, and news feeds specific to the LGBT community running on its site. One of the fastest-growing gay sites, GLEE boasts over 20,000 members and 700,000 page views since June 2007.
Imeem: A different spin on the networking concept, Imeem is music-centric. Here users can find new music, video and photos, or upload their own work for people to share.
LinkedIn: For a more professional way of introducing yourself to a potential employer, try LinkedIn, the Internet’s answer to doing lunch.
MySpace: The largest and most popular networking site, MySpace set the standard for Internet socializing.
Olivia: Olivia.com raised some brows when it announced it would launch its own social networking site, Olivia.com/Connect. But this lifestyle company certainly caters to its target audience with travel tips and news on upcoming performances.
OurChart: The lesbian networking site may have seemed like a TV spinoff or a clever marketing ploy, but this site has skyrocketed since its launch in January 2007. It has blogs, comments and photo albums, but it’s the visual web of your chart that makes it fun.