Written for the Occupancy Marketing blog

So you think you know your Facebook from your LinkedIn? How about your Pinterest from your Tumblr? Great – but have you heard about Vkontakte and Qzone? (Two of the largest social networks in Russia and China respectively).

Here are 10 big social networks that we are keeping our eye on.

Habbo – 258 million users
A quirky pixelated game from Finland that’s especially popular amongst teens

Qzone – 200 million users
Users can buy the “Canary Diamond”, unlocking all paid services for a one-time-only fee

Badoo – 153 million users
An international site created by a Russian, owned by a Cyprian company but based in London

VK – 118 million users
VK made paper planes out of 5,000-rouble notes (around £100) and threw them out of the windows of their St. Petersburg offices

Renren – 117 million users
Reportedly heavily filtered by the Chinese government but still one of the top sites in the country

Taringa! – 70 million users
Argentinian site that was reportedly used by drug cartels to track down kidnapping victims!

SkyRock – 32 million users
Started out as a local Paris radio station website and turned into a full-blown networking site

Tuenti – 14 million users
This Spanish language-only site has achieved 14 million users despite still being invite-only!

Ravelry – 2 million users
Devoted to knitting, spinning, weaving and crochet

Hamsterster – Fewer than 200 users
For owners of hamsters, devoted to hamsters (see also: Dogster and Catster)