First, let me start by saying I'm a Network Creator on Ning and I also used a significant number of Widget Lab­s (and other) third party plug-ins across multiple social networks I manage.

While Widget Labs has posted a slew of e-mails back and forth between the companies, it still is pretty hard to know who is really at fault. Fact is, if WL doesn't return to Ning then we'll probably never know unless there is a lawsuit with public information. It does seem this was brewing for some time and in early August there was some indication the relationship between WL and Ning -- in whatever form existed -- was going downhill. It is hard to truly determine tone in e-mail, but the e-mails show a strained relationship and some words on both side.

So what are these networks and what can they do for me?
Indianapolis Star -- LinkedIn was actually one of the first niche social networks on the Web. It was founded in 2003, got off to a slow start, but is now the seventh-largest social network on the Web, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. It grew more than 160 percent from August 2006 to August 2007 -- faster even than Facebook.

Niche in Growth: Big Social networks see Web traffic declines
Minnesota Daily -- Research released from Internet research firm ComScore Jan. 23 confirmed that the top two social networks, Facebook and MySpace, both saw their traffic decline by double-digit percents.[One] possible reason for the reduction of customers to these sites is an increase in niche networking sites ... for example, for people who like to travel. While Facebook has applications for travelers, it's not the same as a site devoted to these people. 

Generation MySpace Is Getting Fed Up
Business Week -- The MySpace generation may be getting annoyed with ads and a bit bored with profile pages. The average amount of time each user spends on social networking sites has fallen by 14% over the last four months, according to market researcher ComScore. MySpace, the largest social network, has slipped from a peak of 72 million users in October to 68.9 million in December, ComScore says.

Entrepreneurs think niche with new social networks

Reporting  from the Social Networking Conference last week in Miami Beach, the Miami Herald has a great article about how entrepreneurs are focusing on niche communities.

Social Networks for Grownups

WebProNews.com's Jason Lee Miller says the new Moli adult-swim network could change the game.

Writing Room is Just Another Network, So Far

Mashable: Writing Room is a recently launched community for writers. Duh. Now, there are a lot of these sites out there, from niche writing techniques to niche interest groups. Unfortunately, Writing Room doesn’t really have many differentiating factors.

­ Earlier this year, BiteClub.com – a niche social network for the restaurant and bar industry workers -- announced it has secured $500,000 in funding to revamp and market itself to the world. That is a pretty astounding number for a site that has less than 1,500 registered members and not a lot of traction in some of its content areas such as forums. So far. ­

Founded last May by Randy Paragary, Sonny Mayugba and Mark Braden, Bite Club was created as “a dedicated online platform for members of the restaurant and bar industry to fuel camaraderie and to exchange personal and professional information,” according to the release announcing the investment.

BiteClub.com will re-launch on a new platform February 14^th -- moving from its existing platform to a new custom application. The funding – from veteran restaurateur Larry Mindel, of Il Fornaio fame; Darius Anderson, of Kenwood Investments and Platinum Advisors, not only is supporting the new technology, but also will fuel new content, overall site improvements and marketing efforts.

What is BiteClub.com going to do to raise its profile – and membership base – in the wake of such a sizable investment? Why move to a new platform? NicheSocials.com asked co-Founder Sonny Mayugba for the inside scoop ... Click to Read the Full Story.

Here are some stories and blogs around the Web in the last few days on social networks, especially the niche ones we love:

Armstrong foundation to launch fitness networking Web site

The Lance Armstrong Foundation is getting into the online social-networking business with a Web site focusing on health and fitness issues.

The for-profit site, www.LiveStrong.com, will launch later this year in a partnership with Demand Media Inc., an online media startup run by Richard Rosenblatt, the former head of MySpace.com.

Video Interview: Ning CEO -- Finding a niche in DIY social-network

ZDNet.com editor-in-chief Dan Farber and Webware.com's editor Rafe Needleman talk to Ning chief executive Gina Bianchini to find out about the company's social-network platform strategy and how the chief executive plans to compete against other social-network enablers. Farber and Needleman then analyse the company's viability in the crowded social-networking space.

Hoover's Launches Business Social Network 'Connect'

Called Hoover's Connect, the free site moved out of beta testing on Wednesday and will compete with other business social networks like LinkedIn and ZeroDegrees. Hoover's said its subscribers can use the Connect tool for business insight and non-intrusive way to make targeted contacts with key business people through contacts subscribers already have.

Social network sites slow Google

Google yesterday blamed the difficulty of making money from placing adverts on social networking sites for holding back its growth in the latest quarter, contributing to a 9 per cent slump in its shares in after-market trading.

"We have found that social networks are not monetising as well as we were expecting," said George Reyes, chief financial officer, as Google reported its earnings for the final quarter of last year.

Social Networking for Wired Journalists

As j-schools struggle to keep the skills they teach relevant to the fast-changing media landscape, hundreds other journalists and students have mobilized to teach and support each other informally through a new online social network.

CIO is really covering niche social networks with a passion in recent weeks, with a new article today on the business lessons from launching and managing a niche social network.

If the social networking space was like college, MySpace and Facebook would be the big men on campus. And naturally, lurking behind these beefy juggernauts is a clique of nerds—the niche social networks—and from chess clubs to history teams, these "90-pound weaklings" are quietly demonstrating the vast potential of social networking and showing how businesses can better utilize social networks for their employees.

What are the lessons? Well you can read them all in the latest article by C. G. Lynch in today's story, but here's a quick glimpse:

• The Users Come First; The Technology, Second
• Encouraging Accountability by Controlling Access
• Achieving Work-Life Balance 
•  Make It Highly Customizable
  

Yours truly gives my take on the last bullet point based on my experience thus far running FirefighterNation.com, a social net for firefighters and first responders.

Some other comments from the piece:

Due to their smaller size, administrators at niche sites can monitor user interactions more closely and ensure people follow the rules of engagement. As a result, the creators of these sites argue that users become more accountable for what they post and how they interact with the site.

Facebook and MySpace has been criticized as being too playful for work, while LinkedIn, with its black-and-white resumes and limited inventory of widgets, has been seen as too boring. Niche social networks, on the other hand, have been able to strike a balance between the personal and professional.

Read the full story now on CIO.com:  Four Business Lessons from Niche Social Networks

As networking sites like MySpace and Facebook grow bigger and more amorphous, niche communities are gaining in popularity. By one measure, traffic on MySpace grew 9% from 2006 to 2007, but traffic on sites like Flixster, a networking site for movie-lovers, tripled. Sports-related social networks are among the fastest-growing of these new communities. SkiSpace, for example, has jumped to 10,000 members in the month since it launched, says a story from Business Week today.

Skier Bode Miller is behind SkiSpace, which cost $500,000 to get off the ground but already has some resorts spending at much as $50,000 for campaigns that 'interact more directly with members by using features such as mobile blogging widgets and RSS feeds."

Because SkiSpace caters to a niche market and offers a chance for targeted ads, it brings in more money per view than less customized social networks do, Ryan Blair said in the Business Week story. Blair, who owns software development company PathConnect, partnered with Miller in the venture. Blair expects the site to be profitable by the end of the ski season.

For the full Business Week story, including some scoop on sports niche sites, click here.

On the heels of a report by Global Secure Systems and Infosecurity Europe UK which found that social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo cost businesses as much as 6.5 billion pounds ($12 billion) a year in lost productivity, CIO asks 'Should Social Networks be Banned at Work?'

Will social networks become the new porn and ESPN of the workplace? Surf it...but don't let your bosses see?

CIO's columnist C.G. Lynch disagrees with some of his cohorts, suggesting banning such activity could end up being even more counter-productive:

"I don’t accept the productivity loss argument.  Every new technology is what an employee makes of it. IM is a perfect example. The employees who chat with their friends all day are inefficient, distracted workers (who, let's face it, won't last at the organization), while the employees who chat with their colleagues, business partners, customers and other contacts are probably incredibly productive."

"By banning social networks, companies would, in effect, discourage employees from making connections with each other, and with customers (the latter, by the way, usually leads to sources of revenue). That, to me, seems risky. "­

Now the arguments here will certainly be drawn between the 'type' of social network we're talking about. A business professional should certainly more easily make the case that their profile on LinkedIn and highly targeted niche social networks is far more valuable to their job than MySpace. But with more 'adults' connecting on Facebook and professional groups sprouting up on that site, even connecting there could be considered legit.

As Lynch points out, even telling employees that they cannot connect to each other would be silly. Thats a great point, in that even if they are not connecting for 'work' purposes, but instead social, doesn't more camaraderie within an office or organization environment help increase teamwork? (Unless of course everyone is just spending their day talking about Fantasy Football picks).

There is so much discussion out there about social networking and its impact, I think it all bodes well for highly targeted niche social networks. Whether its professional in nature and more justifies participation 24/7 and not just after hours, drives people to spend more time on niche networks than the big boys and for us network creators specifically -- drives more advertisers and marketers to us because we're where people are more justified in spending their time on and off work hours.

Moms love the Internet, according to a release from CafeMom.com, which has been ranked as the 8th fastest growing site on the Web by Compete.com.

Launched in November 2006, CafeMom.com was also named Mashable's Top Niche Social Network recently among several other accolades in recent months. According to the report,

"Moms" would definitely qualify as a broad niche, but the site's growth has been pretty tremendous stacking up at about one million moms strong. The site's features are pretty typical -- with a few 'Mom' bells and whistles such as 'New Arrivals' list and 'Expecting' lists for new Moms, an incredible number of 'Journals' (blogs) by Mom seemingly posted every few seconds ... and all the typical groups, photos and other features you'd expect on a major scale social network.

“We have experienced such phenomenal growth this past year and are thrilled to be among the fastest growing sites of 2007,” said Michael Sanchez, CafeMom CEO. “CafeMom attracts thousands of new members daily and we’re excited to continue our success in 2008 and provide moms with an outlet to find friendships and support.”

For the full release, click here, and whether you are a Mom, Dad or just a curious social network creator, visit CafeMom.com now.

If you were curious if there are networks for Dads, you can check out BrandNewDad.com.

There are a few other 'Dad' and parenting social networks out there of varying levels, but Moms just seem to be a bit more active on the net these days in terms of sharing their parenting experience.

InfoWorld blogger Lena West's Social Media 360 blog had a post today saying something we all love to hear:

"It would appear that niche communities are all the rage - at least for the moment they are."

The driving factors mentioned in the blog follow what a few of the stories we've been linking to in the last week talk about -- Ad dollars on social networks approached $1 billion (with a B) in 2007 -- depending whose numbers you believe. And 8% of that was spent on niche, targeted social networks. Expect that number to go into double digits in 2008

Find out what Lena thinks is REALLY the driver behind those trends in her blog here.

Now as for her headline 'Rich Niche Communities' ... we'll have to wait and see about that one.