Social networking sites are web-based services which allow individuals to create profiles, articulate and communicate with others. This paper identifies seven motives behind the use of social networking sites and discusses factors such as frequency of use and influence of social networking sites on the lives of users.

Social network sites are also called `social networking sites' to emphasize relationship initiation, often among strangers. The social networking websites have evolved as a combination of personalized media experience, within social context of participation. The practices that differentiate social networking sites from other types of computer-mediated communication are uses of profiles, friends and comments or testimonials—profiles are publicly viewed, friends are publicly articulated, and comments are publicly visible (Boyd, 2007).

The first social network site, SixDegrees.com, was launched in 1997. The launching dates of major social networking sites are given in Figure 1. With the advent of the networking technology and popularity of the Internet, many social networking websites have made their presence felt, such as MySpace, Orkut and Facebook (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). In India, Orkut topped among the social networking websites with a user share of 64 percent (Madhavan, 2007). Most social networking websites provide various features like networking, uploading photographs, videos and digital content. Social networking websites provide rich information about the person and his network, which can be utilized for various business purposes.

Management Research Journal, Social Networking Sites, Networking Technology, Social Networking Websites, Social Implications, Principal Components Analysis, PCA, Social Networking Services, Motivating Factors, Web-based Services, Embedded Advertisements, Online Videos.