Top Social Discovery Websites and Tools

Top social discovery websites, tools and platforms on the Web, including social communities offering the ability to find and meet new people, including those organized by language, nationality or specialty interest. This list contains social discovery sites and platforms from around the Web, though it does not feature mobile apps or social discovery tools designed exclusively to work within larger social networks (for example, Facebook apps).

The term "social discovery" describes the process by which people can search and then connect with other people online based on a variety of metrics and criteria (such as age, interests, gender and so on.) A social network, on the other hand, is defined as an online service, platform or website which is focused largely around uniting individuals and allowing them to communicate and interact. Most social networks utilize social discovery tools to introduce new users to a community within the platform, but not all social discovery sites are necessarily networks. Facebook currently is the world's largest and most popular social networking platform, having supplanted previous champions such as MySpace and Friendster.

This list gathers together major players in the social discovery field. It is an open list, so if you have a favorite social discovery product that isn't featured, enter it below to make sure it's included on the list.