Social networking goes to the dogs

Richmond: Cici confesses on her web page that she likes to greet everyone by licking their feet.

Dolce admits to being a mamma's boy. And Jake and Tycho posted a video that chronicles their adventures of rolling around on their backs. It's not on MySpace, but the canine equivalent - Doggyspace.com. A crossbreed between MySpace and YouTube, Doggyspace allows dog owners from all over the world to come together, create profiles, and share photos and videos of their pups. The Virginia-based site is part of a growing trend of niche, or content-focused, social networking sites that target interest groups looking to connect with like-minded people.

"It's not so much social networking, it's having a social experience around things that we care about, so pets are just such a great example of that," said Fred Stutzman, an internet researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since launching in mid-July, Doggyspace has logged more than 700 registered, active user profiles - 73 per cent of them created by females, said Levi Thornton, founder of the site and president of web development firm Mad Frog Productions. He projects that Doggyspace will have more than two million accounts by the end of the year.

Standard accounts for the site are free, but later this year it plans to offer premium accounts for a small fee that will give users extra features. A portion of the fee will go to an animal charity.