It is another big bang after blogs: social networking on the Web. Last week, even Sabeer Bhatia, the founder of Hotmail, moved into the already cramped space with his ApnaCircle. But this time, Bhatia will have to tussle with big and tiny sharks that have been in the waters for long.

Google has Orkut, the most religiously followed networking site in India and Brazil. Facebook is claimed to be growing faster in numbers than Orkut currently. And home-bred sites backed by giant corporate groups too are alive and kicking. BigAdda (Reliance Communications), Campus18 (TV18), IndyaRocks (Star) and Meet or Delete (MTV) are the hot ones. Several start-ups such as MingleBox, Fropper, Jhoom, Yaari, HumSubka.com and DesiMartini have also grabbed their share of members. “The social networking landscape is already overcrowded,” says Sumir Chadha, managing director of Sequoia Capital India, a VC firm that has invested $7 million in MingleBox. The company has already tasted success from investments in Google, Yahoo! and Youtube.

Alok Mittal, who founded Jobsahead and sold it to Monster.com, believes otherwise. “The challenge is in finding a sweet-spot by offering a valuable proposition to the user.” The interest in social networking sites has perhaps peaked due to the resounding success of properties such as MySpace (sold to News Corporation for $580 million) and Facebook globally.

So, what are the chances for an Indian start-up? “MingleBox designed for and by Indian users whose needs are different from what are offered on global sites, is growing fast,” says Chadha. A few years ago, Classmates and Friendster ruled the roost. Only a few remember them now.

Apparently, the start-ups are pinning hopes on the logic that the new seems to be the hip.