Facebook has reigned as the King of Social Networks for so long that it’s hard to imagine life without it.  A big reason for its continued existence is that everyone we know is in it. It has become our indispensable connection to the outside world. Our real lives are so fast-paced that there is hardly time anymore to meet family for weekend dinners or even to share a cup of coffee with friends. With Facebook, everyone’s a private message, chat, phone call and FB status away!

Still, pundits can’t help but predict how Facebook will be dislodged from the top spot in a few years by the growing popularity of other social sharing sites. After all, the inevitable demise happened to previous networking leaders like MySpace and Livejournal. FB competitors are aggressively inventing bigger and greater technologies for the market to be distracted with. And when they get out of the geek labs, out comes new features and novel ways to connect. Today’s digital citizens are indeed spoiled for choice. Here’s our list of the best new social networking sites you should be looking out for in a post-Facebook era:

SNAPCHAT – 100 million users

They say content is king, but today’s most compelling content are not highfallutin words. They come in the forms of videos and photos. Just click on the camera button of your iPhone or Android Phone and you have your ‘Snaps’ to share with a controlled list of recipients. Set a time limit because the vids and pics can only be stored and viewed for up to 10 seconds. The self-destructing effect proved to be magical that up to 700 million photos and videos are being sent, viewed and exchanged on Snapchat servers per day.

VINE – 50 million users

Vine became notable for its six-second video sharing feature that is posted in a unique  auto loop fashion. It’s set to become an enduring network owing to its affiliation with Twitter which bought the service prior to its launch in 2013. Vine videos can be embedded directly to Twitter and it’s estimated that over a 100 million people watch Vine videos each month and over 1 billion ‘loops’ are played daily.

GOOGLE+ – 350 million users

Google Plus is not necessarily new, having launched in 2011, but owing to its tie-up with the search giant, it deserves a mention because it is the fastest-growing social network. Credit the lightning speed of its growth to its integration with other Google services and apps; thereafter, you now have the second biggest social networking site in the world after Facebook. If you’re an online author, posting and updating your Google+ profile substantially helps your SEO. As a social platform, Google+ is connected to other Google services like Gmail, Hangouts and Circles so a single user sign-on will suffice.

TINDER – 10 million users

Tinder is exciting, otherwise it wouldn’t have been hailed “The Best New Start-Up for 2013” by TechCrunch. Some people would find it funny to swipe to the right (if they find someone cute) and swiping to the left (if they’re not interested) but the tactile, user-friendly interface is what exactly makes Tinder a hit among those looking for some degree of uniqueness in a dating site. Plus the sign-in with Facebook where you can see friends and interests in common gives the app some legitimacy.

PHEED – No user no. stats available

Pheed is getting to be one very popular application for the younger set and ranks consistently as the no. 1 app downloaded on the Apple Store. Among its famous users are Miley Cyrus and David Guetta. Pheed fuses the best of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram. Users create their personal channels  and “pheed” text, photo, video, and audio content. They can also do live stream broadcasts and can earn money with a pay per view option for subscribers.