Social networking has really gotten down to basics: tail sniffing. Ted Rheingold has launched Dogster.com, and has 9,000 dogs signed up.

Julian Guthrie

[from Internet Goes To The Dogs]

Online networking, one of the fastest growing segments of the Web, attracts millions of dollars in venture capital and millions of users angling for a personal or professional connection. Sites such as LinkedIn, ZeroDegrees, Ryze and Friendster connect friends of friends. Dogster connects friends of dogs.

"It's all about love of dog,'' said Dogster founder Ted Rheingold, a 33- year-old dot-com survivor who spends his days building Web applications for corporate clients and weekends creating his own, more whimsical sites.

The popularity of Dogster reflects a more tail-wagging, egalitarian era of the Internet today, Rheingold believes. He wants to keep the site folksy and focused and is not seeking venture capital. Instead, he hopes merely to recoup out-of-pocket expenses, such as the $200 a year Web hosting fees.

And people wonder if there is a viable business model for social networking. Ha!