Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Andrew Johnson


Move over Tom Anderson. It's now easier than ever to duplicate the success of MySpace and other big social networks and many of the tools are free.



Selections include Ning, KickApps, Crowdvine, GoingOn, CollectiveX, PeopleAggregator, Haystack, ONEsite and PHPizabi.

Here's a breakdown of all but the last plus two other services and a beta called Me.com that seems to have vanished in the meantime at TechCrunch.

Just brainstorming here, bootstrappers can use free social networks in a variety of ways:
• Comprehensive promotion of a product or business with direct feedback available from customers
• Promotion of a blog or other website giving added space for readers' comments and interaction.
• Creation of many of the key aspects of an on line store again with feedback from customers
• Communication for members of a team over long distances plus interaction with venders and others especially in instances where communications do not need to be secure and may actually help educate consumers about a product or service.

Obviously, much like MySpace or Facebook, the community itself could be a business if a means can be found to monetize it. Take one for a test drive and see what you come up with.