The numbers put Netlog near the top of the social networking tree - depending on what you mean by "social networking". Some sites, like movie-rental site Flixster, have more members, but networking isn't their core business. Others, like Friendster, have more user accounts, but most of them are inactive after members migrated to newer sites like Facebook.

Facebook remains the world leader with 250 million members, but, despite beginning as a closed system for some US colleges, has seen its typical member profile grow older since its popularity really took off. Netlog was launched when co-creator Toon Coppens was a computer student of 18; his partner Lorenz Bogaert is six years older. The pair credit their targeting of a particular demographic for their success. "We specifically aimed at a younger public: between 18 and 24. Any older, and you don't belong to our core target group," Coppens said. "Look at it this way: if an 18-year-old goes to a bar, he obviously doesn't want to run into his uncle or auntie, does he?"

Netlog recently launched in the Middle East; next on the agenda is China. "Where will it all end? We don't know ourselves," Coppens says. "How many young people are there in the world?"

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