In the current digital era, most of us are members of at least one online community for sharing information and common interests. This article talks about the exponential growth and business prospects of virtual social networking sites, the constructive uses of these virtual communities in various aspects of our life, and also the possible threats. Further, it tries to bring in various viewpoints about different forms of digital socialization and membership life cycle of virtual communities.

"Social web" is a new genre of interactive websites that has entered into our lives in recent years. The term "social networking" describes a situation where individuals and organizations are linked by one or more specific types of interdependency, i.e., values, vision, friendship, business, ideas, religion, etc. Networking is the key to growth in the current business scenario. The main purpose of networking is to make oneself and one's work known to others.

The explosive growth of the Internet since the second half of the 1990s has led to increased popularity of virtual communities. Virtual communities are groups of people usually dispersed geographically, who come together online to communicate, share common interests and activities. There are many service providers for such virtual social networking. These services may be web-based (such as e-mail, chatting) and may also be based on instant messaging services.

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