Social networking Sites are having their day. Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, LinkedIn, you name it, they are there, roaring ahead with legions number of users getting on board. These sites have all thought out their specialties and unique selling points and have positioned themselves in the market. They are on to the next phase in their growth cycle, expanding and adapting to the new requirements and differentiating themselves from competition.

LinkedIn is networking site for professionals that is on a growth phase, run by Kevin Eyres. LinkedIn, which has been around for over 6 years now, has been in the black for the past two years, booking profits as it expands beyond its forte of United States of America. LinkedIn claims to have three major revenue engines – through advertising, through premium subscription and through corporate solutions. LinkedIn managed to raise over $100 million with its plans of tweaking its services with new technology, as it gets ready to launch itself with smart phone oriented applications.

Twitter, the site where people feel free to announce what they are up to the very minute, is gearing up for the next assault into the market as it gets into real-time search, rivaling Google’s search capacities that are restricted when it comes to real-time search. There was talk of Facebook trying to take over Twitter in a failed attempt and speculation is ripe of Microsoft or Google, the cash-rich behemoths that are competing fiercely over the next generation of online services, going for a takeover bid of Twitter in the near future.

Clearly, social networking, as a business stream, is coming of age and the arena is getting serious with multiple players with earnest business intentions. The only hiccup that these social networking players need to address down the road is safety of loads of data held online, a vulnerability that was underscored as both Twitter and Facebook were brought down recently for hours together over Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks. While businesses that aim to partner as well as those that intend to become serious players in the market may be unnerved by the attack, opportunity and scope in social networking sites are enormous if the loopholes are promptly plugged.