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 Facebook or 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.
Stutzman said many people are using more general social networking sites but also signing up for sites like Doggyspace that offer a more focused experience that can provide help and support on specific issues and go beyond traditional message boards.
“Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are sort of about you and your friends and these very direct connections, but there’s all sorts of other types of connections,” Stutzman said.
Since launching in mid-July, Doggyspace has logged more than 700 registered, active user profiles — 73 percent of them created by females, said Levi Thornton, founder of the site and president of web development firm Mad Frog Productions in Fredericksburg, Va. He projects that Doggyspace will have more than two million accounts by the end of the year.
“There’s a lot of people out there with their dogs and we’re busy and we’re all working in the office all day long and this is a way for us to…