Forget tweeting and checking-in, niche and invite-only social networking sites are growing in popularity.

Within the last month, researching firm Inside Facebook says the site has lost six million users in the US, with the drop marking the first time the Facebook has lost users in the past year. Meanwhile before its relaunch in September last year, MySpace lost 20 million members worldwide in the space of 12 months.

While people begin to sour on Facebook, more and more users are now requesting to join exclusive sites that combine user-friendly applications and visual stimulation with like-minded people.

One of the sites that has grown exponentially since it was created less than 12 months ago is Pinterest, an online network inspired by retro pin-up boards and photo albums.

Invited members can create their own virtual pin-up boards and collate their weird, wacky and wonderful world wide web finds in one secure place. It launched with 17,000 users and grew to over one million members in three months, but you still have to be invited to join.

"The service aims to one-up others making it easy to follow people, making collections beautiful, and always attributing images to the original source," creator Ben Silbermann said.

The site, created by Silberman and LA-based software engineers Paul Sciarra and Yashwanth Nelapati, was embroiled in the rebranding scandal of the fledging MySpace site.

MySpace's director of technology Dave Peck had requested to join the Pinterest community before the new look site relaunched last year. When it did the two sites shared very similar aesthetics, which fired up the digerati.

"So @myspace has completely ripped off @pinterest. It really pisses me off when an old, tired hack tries to undermine hardworking inovators [sic]," Silberman tweeted.

Other sites like Off Beat Bride and The Influence Project also adopt the "no hawkers" philosophy to social networking. To be granted a profile, potential users must complete intense application processes which are then manually signed-off by company representatives.

This new customised, exclusive world of online networking has even been given the stamp of approval by the fashion elite.

US Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, who only attends a select number of fashion shows made an appearance at the online Oscars the week, The Webby Awards.

"Sometimes, geeks can be chic," she told the audience.

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