Well, I've spent two days tinkering with Friendster and Tribe, and perusing the comments that bloggers have made on both systems (which, I've discovered, can be a very effective way to get a sense of what's going on).

Friendster is great--provided you can plug into a large network without too much work. If you're starting from scratch, it's frustrating, and you feel like a loser just because you're not part of the "right" group...sounds too much like grade school for my liking.

Tribe has one thing going for it: you can join public "tribes" (groups) without having to know someone to get in, so you can get down to business without wearing yourself (and your Rolodex) out. Also, if you can't find a public tribe you want to join, you can create your own, which is a great idea. Why bust your gut trying to connect to someone else's node on the network, when you can create your own node? That's more along my line of thinking :-)

Both Friendster and Tribe are beta software. There are clear signs that Friendster is going o start charging for its services at some future point, whereas Tribe has vowed not to charge users for its services unless it can't make money from other streams such as advertising and special services.

Verdict? I'm keeping my Friendster account, but I think I'll be spending more time--and having more fun--on Tribe.net. And I will be watching with interest as both services grow and develop.

Now... I am going to put all this away and focus on my life off-line.