One of the key trends in online social networking in 2007 will be the arrival of a range of new niche networks. One of the demographic niches that will attract a lot of attention is teenage girls.
Publisher Conde Nast will launch flip.com early next year. Although not specifically marketed as a social network, the site will have features such as "flip books" (scrapbook-like profile pages) and groups for teens to join, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal.
Teen People and ElleGirl, meanwhile, both stopped publishing in print and now are only available online.
The question is whether such sites will draw attention away from general social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook. The answer may be to target the youngest end of the tween/teen spectrum.
One thing these publisher-driven sites have going for them is that tweens are more likely to gravitate toward Internet content that is geared specifically for them. According to Youth Trends, "visiting sites for young people like me" was the second most popular choice in a list of online activities done by girls ages 8 to 11.
Tweens and young teens are also less likely than older teens to use social networking sites, according to research by MindShare. About 17% of children ages 9 to 14 say they visit social networking sites "always" or "often," vs. 33% of teens ages 12 to 17.
However, the siren song of social networking becomes irresistible by the time girls are midway through their teen years. Among young teens ages 12 to 14 who were surveyed by the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg, 38% of males and females said they visit social networking sites. By ages 15 to 17, 61% of the teen girls surveyed said they use social networking sites.
Sites with more editorially driven content may also be a plus for parents who still monitor the Internet activities of their young teenagers.
For more on the Internet habits of tweens and young teens, read eMarketer's Tweens and Teens Online: From Mario to MySpace report.