In an online world dominated by Facebook and YouTube, it's easy to bypass the many tonnes of other social networks floating around the net. Some of these sites are equally - if not more - useful than the big boys of the online world. Here's a list of the top five that are worth a browse:
Stroome: Riffing on the Dutch verb meaning 'to move freely', Stroome is the foremost online video collaboration hub around. Launched officially in April 2010, the site aims to connect journalists, filmmakers, travellers and anyone else with a video camera, allowing them to upload their films to the internet and then collaborate with other users to create new video, audio, and photo mashups from every corner of the world. While the Stroome community is still small with only 500 members based in 40 countries, the opportunity and potential for growth is substantial. Think YouTube and Wikipedia rolled into one big creative melting pot.
Legal OnRamp: Legal OnRamp has been hailed as Law 2.0, enabling in-house lawyers and a few invited external private legal professionals to network and collaborate on various legal decisions and strategies. It stems from the idea that lawyers should learn from each other when advising on the same points of law. Legal OnRamp offers a legal FAQ forum where lawyers can ask questions such as "I need to sack a 60-year-old, what do I need to know?", a community where business deals can be facilitated, as well as events. Think LinkedIn for lawyers only.
Elixio: You've probably never heard of it because membership is by invite only. Similar to other elite networks such as aSmallWorld and Decayenne, Elixio is a gated online community that aims to keep the MySpace and Facebook rabble on the other side of the fence. So what's the compelling reason to join? Well, because it's a community of less than 14,000 mostly business professionals, Elixio hosts networking opportunities for the creme de la creme. Post a query about wine distribution opportunities or legal and tax advice for start-ups and you will most likely get a well-informed answer. Have a spare yacht or a home to sell? It's more likely that you'll sell it safely on the Elixio marketplace rather than on Gumtree.
Multiply: Multiply prides itself on being a safe, private space for families to share their photos with their real friends and family members. Media is uploaded into the steel-trap-like 'media locker' where nobody but approved friends may view. Blogging, chat function and fully customisable skins. The advert-free premium account fully backs up all media, supports HD video and allows users to download their media onto their desktop as a zip file. For the privacy-conscious, Multiply is a safe bet.
Gaia Online: And from the real to the surreal, Gaia Online is a submersive community for teens, similar to Second Life. Created by comic book fans in 2003, the site now has more than 10 million members and continues to grow. Users participate in activities to collect Gaia Gold, a virtual currency used to buy swag for virtual homes and gussy up their anime avatar. That's all fairly standard social media fare, but what really distinguishes Gaia is its message boards service. According to TechCrunch, Gaia's online forums rank second in popularity only to Yahoo, clocking in at over a billion posts.
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