As Josh mentioned in his design:related post, we’ve seen a huge jump in the introduction of niched social networks recently. It will be interesting to see which ones take off, and which ones end up on the cutting room floor. I think the success of these sites will depend on the user-friendliness and aesthetics of their interfaces, how well the programmers build the back ends of the sites, and– maybe most important– the content that the early adopters bring to the sites in the early stages. Trendmill is a new site geared toward fashion trends– it looks pretty good. It caters to both industry and individuals, allowing brands to upload their designs to the site where individual members can vote on the designs and create buzz around pieces they like (and pieces they don’t like). Also, as the site continues into the future (assuming it does), you will be able to click on a trend timeline that will show you what was ‘hot and not’ at any point in time. I also like the editorial feature of the site– the posts are pretty entertaining. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about all of these new social networks– so leave a comment if you have some ideas to share.