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We feel the need to belong, to form a part of a group who make us feel wanted, and loved and understood. And what better place to do that than the Internet? We’re not suggesting you stop going out more often, but there are increasing signs of “like-minded” individuals e-huddling together and carrying out activities which are of common interest, and this is where niche social networking steps in.  By targeting a specific audience, a niche social networking site is able to create an automatic bond between people. Niche social networks center around a specific hobby or activity . Which means if you like planting cactus in your garden; chances are you will take help from the Internet, where you will most probably find a bunch of like-minded people who prefer cacti to lilies or roses. Someone who is deeply obsessed with the same idea has already created some kind of interactive forum or web page where fellow cactus-lovers unite, and voila, a “niche” is created, which will be targeted by Advertisers with glee. All the eggs in one basket This is the basic principle with which advertisers are able to pinpoint whom they can target next. For them, a niche site contains a specific demographic of people who share the same interests, views and likes. Chances are they are all from a specific income group as well. Digressing from our initial thorny example, if you have a large group of BMW fanatics who have formed a website to cream over how much they love those cars, you have a set of individuals who are able to spend a specific amount on a product. So a company like Rolex can position their ads on this website, where you have a ready market for people who can actually afford their watches. This means future clients are targeted specifically, and is an advertisers dream come true. The US Army is on it! Their private social network milBook is nearing 20K members. Touted as a secure, behind-the-firewall Facebook-type social network, it has hundreds of user groups and is making a mark as the most widely adopted Web 2.0 tool by the Department of Defense. Through discussion topics, they can exchange ideas among self-created groups on Army policies, external cultural influences and the like. The information can either be restricted to that user or shared with the entire milBook community. Regardless, it will always remain behind the firewall. Ibibo.com drives the point home According to the ComScore Study on Social media (of August’ 2010), ibibo.com saw its user base jump from (July 2009) 15,62,000 users to (July 2010) 29,60,000 users. It offers niche users nuances that were Indian in context. “It actually caters to niche Indian taste”, Rahul Razdan , President Product and Operations, ibibo.com. said. “An Indian gaming user really did not know much about Italian mafia but could relate to an India mafia game . They could look for some variations of a card game played in Diwali. The site offers games typical of an Indian scenario like cows on the road”. “It is like a local soap opera where you could add features and twists and turns to suit local niche appeal “, he said, adding, a generic global social network could not really hope to address such issues. “As a local social gaming platform we have worked. We have picked up traction big way”, he said. The jury is still out though, but with India’s Internet population only going up, it’s only a matter of time before we are being snobby about which niche site is “cooler”. Do you network in a Niche? Tell us now!