Site: Bebo

The good: User-friendly interface is warming, welcoming and much less abrasive than that of MySpace. Sign-up is fast and easy, and no confirmation e-mail is required. The “About Me” section is really well done, allowing users to type in anything they want instead of the standard favorites in movies and music. I really dig the “My Life Story” feature, which acts as an interactive timeline for important dates and events. Remind me to invite my friends to my “Second Bris” spectacular.

The bad: The “Say Something!” application is more or less this site’s “status” feature, though that’s not much of a complaint. Finding friends can be an arduous task; the lack of a true browse function comes as a hindrance.

Verdict: Blog early, blog often, blog with Bebo.

Site: OkCupid

The good: It parades itself as the “best dating site on Earth,” but it’s also a viable social network due to its numerous user interaction options. Unlike Bebo, I got to choose my username: shinytim. Neat. There are many bips and boops to tweak and play with, making this probably the best time-waster on the list. It’s worth a sign-up for the sheer number of quizzes one could take. For the record, I rated “Joe Normal” in “The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test.” Victory is forever mine.

The bad: It tries a little too hard to be like Facebook, but with that near-flawless business model, which site wouldn’t? And I still feel creepish for signing up for a dating site, no matter how well this particular one masks it with its hip attitude.

Verdict: It’s OK in my book. Definitely try it.

Site: Tumblr

The good: More a micro-blogger than anything, this site is best comparable to Twitter, which is a good thing. Everything is simple enough to use, and I like how much more fleshed-out it is than the aforementioned. It allows you to update text, photos, videos, quotes and more. There’s also a delicious, hierarchical “Explore” function, which is what you’ll want to click to find a page.

The bad: Every button and speech box is gigantic in size, which really makes me question who this site’s target audience is. Blind people? Four-year-olds? The elderly? The lack of proper vowel usage furthers this point. While inventive, I don’t think this one holds much staying power.

Verdict: You could do without it.

Site: Habbo

The good: What the…? I am so confused. This site allows users to create a “sprite,” which is a cute, pixelized cartoon version of themselves, although I made mine look like Sgt. Doakes from “Dexter.” That is about all I like about this one.

The bad: The learning curve is definitely steeper here, as every useful feature is sort of strewn about haphazardly. The layout needs work. One of the more annoying qualities of this place has to be how hard it is to decipher between an actual clickable game or function and an advertisement. It’s about as good for killing time as clipping your nails.

Verdict: Leave your sprite at home.

Site: Xanga

The good: There is so much more to “toxicboycool” than just weblogging, guys. In addition to spilling the beans about my ever-so-exciting personal life, I could post pictures, add audio clips, show videos, find my friends using the “Explore” feature or update my “Pulse,” which is just a simple status update. Lots to do here.

The bad: Like many others, Xanga seems to be a collection of the more popular bits and pieces of its cohorts. The only problem is its competitors do it all better. Rifling through directories and user groups is cool but still lacking.

Verdict: “X” out of your browser and forget you ever registered.