If you hear the term 'social networking site' I'm sure you immediately think of sites like Facebook and Twitter. These are the most popular sites but there are in fact hundreds of social networking sites online. These top sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace dominate the social networking market. If you have a business, either online or offline, you can benefit social networking sites.

Facebook is probably the most popular social networking site of all time and has millions of members. With Facebook, members can connect with friends, find old friends or family that they have lost contact with and even meet new friends. People can upload photos and videos to share with their friends and family. You can even connect with people that live on the other side of the world. You can set up a group for your business or interests and find other people with the same interest to join your group.

There are many people that now use Facebook and other social networking sites to build their business. You can reach out to millions of people worldwide with social networking. When using sites like these for business you must read the Terms of Service first to make sure that you are sticking to the rules. As long as you stick to their terms you can really benefit from these sites with the huge amount of traffic that they receive daily.

Twitter is also a very popular social networking website that people use to give a brief update of what they are doing. Twitter is quite unique in what it offers and has fast become one of the most popular sites online. Twitter is a form of 'micro blogging' where you give a very short update. People can follow you on Twitter and then they see your status every time you update. This is great for business if you spend time to follow other people within your niche and many of them will follow you back. Then you can build a good following of people that are interested in your niche and possibly your business. By building a following of people in your niche you have a much targeted audience.

Facebook and Twitter are both very popular, but they aren't the only sites that you can benefit from. Let's take a look at some other helpful social networking websites.

MySpace is another popular site and is one of the first to appear on the internet. It has a huge number of members and those members connect with other people that share the same interests. You can connect with people that share interests in books, movies, music, videos, photos and much more. You can set up your profile and list your business niche and your interests and you will attract other people that share those interests. You can connect with thousands of people all over the world and each one of them may be a potential customer.

Livejournal is a social networking site that uses blogging. You have your own blog within the Livejournal website and you can join communities and you can leave comments on other member’s blogs. This way you can connect with people that have similar interests and build a good relationship with them.

Flickr is a little different from the above sites as it revolves around photo sharing. People create an account with Flickr and they upload their favorite photos. You can comment on other member’s photos and they can comment on yours. People can even use those photos to put on their website as long as they have a link pointing back to the photo on Flickr. This is a fantastic way to network through photography.

Digg is a social networking website that involves sharing news and media events with others in the community. You can vote on other people's media or news and the most popular stories will receive a lot of publicity within the Digg community.

There are the top social networking sites but there are many more if you have a look around. You can find sites that are focused solely on a particular niche which gives you an instant targeted customer base. If you use social networking sites right, you can receive the many benefits that they offer.