How do you meet new people, make new friends, or find out about the latest bands? Here in the UK young people have traditionally done their socialising in bars, pubs and clubs.

However, there is a new generation growing up that finds it easier to manage their social lives on the net, using free websites like MySpace, Bebo or MSN Spaces.

Welcome to the social networking website – a place where you can present yourself to the digital community and meet other like-minded people .

The most successful social networking website in the UK is MySpace.com. As of July 2006, MySpace is the world’s fourth most popular English-language website, attracting almost 3 million visitors per month. MySpace claims to have 95 million members with 500,000 new members joining the community each week.

So how has it become so successful? Perhaps its secret is in its simplicity. Each new member can build their own page simply – uploading photos, videos and MP3 files. Then they describe themselves, listing their likes, dislikes, favourite bands, relationship status, etc. It’s an easy way to hook up with people who share your interests.

Briana Dougherty, a 25-year-old MySpace devotee, told us, “It’s a casual way to stay in contact without appearing weird.” It seems that many people do not feel comfortable giving out their phone number or personal e-mail address to new acquaintances but are perfectly happy to trade MySpace profiles.

While socialising is the key to MySpace’s success, love of music is at the heart of the community. Indeed, most aspiring musicians in the UK upload their songs to the site, and with good reason: unsigned artists, Arctic Monkeys and Lilly Allen created such a buzz on the site that they were offered recording contracts and scored number one hits .

Here at Learning English we feel that social network sites could be a great place to practise your English. Why not give it a try? You can tell us about your experience by filling in the new comments form at the top of the screen.