Some Internet enthusiasts aren't looking for love.

Over recent years, countless dating sites have emerged and turned the World Wide Web into the world wide hookup gallery.

The new trend, however, seems to be moving in a more positive direction, one where people are just looking for something a little more basic - friends.

Here are just a few of the plethora of pages, sometimes referred to as "friend of a friend" networks that have popped up on the net. And best of all - they're all free.

Here's one of the granddaddies of the trend. The premise is simple. You set up a profile listing your interests, hobbies etc. and invite a bunch of friends to do the same. Then, using a "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" like method, you can browse profiles of people connected to those you know and so forth.

Search for particular interests across the whole network, or toss an e-mail to a friend of a friend of a friend that shares your interest in hair metal bands and make a new one for yourself - it's as simple as that. And your profile comes with a built in e-mail service so you don't have to display an e-mail address that spammers and stalkers alike may take advantage of.

While very much the hipster thing to do about a year ago, Friendster's popularity disappeared as fast as it piqued. Perhaps it was a little too ahead of its time.

Pros: Easy searching.

Cons: No longer in it's heyday, not many extra features.

This is the iPod of the social networks. Everyone wants on, and the fad grows larger every day.

The setup isn't a whole lot different from Friendster. And while it spouts far more features than its role model, network searching is a little less intuitive and a bit more restrictive.

Only certain colleges are supported in the network - Penn State included - and you must put in your actual college e-mail address into your profile.

Pop in your class schedule and you can see who else is in your class. Browse the 1000+ web groups created just by Penn Staters, some of which include fan clubs of The Price is Right, Adult Swim or, simply, alcohol. But if you have to create a web group to discuss beer, you've got bigger problems, my friend.

Pros: Lots of groups to join, lots of browsing features, everybody's doing it.

Cons: Not all colleges supported, less intuitive searching, must display e-mail address.

This is basically the poor man's Thefacebook. The profile setup is pretty much identical but it all goes downhill from there. There are no groups to join and the search feature is positively horrendous and limited to your school.

To pour salt in the wound, this one has been around as long as Thefacebook but has about as many members as Penn State Baby Seal Clubbers. Pass, go and do not collect anything from this site.

Pros: Free.

Cons: Everything else.

Okay, so this one is cheating a bit, since it's main function is a date service of sorts.

But like the others - and unlike most dating sites - it's free and has a lot of cool features that make it worth a look for those who want a little more than friendship.

There's a lot to see and do on this site and almost all of it will help you find a match or partner in one way or another.

Quizzes, multiple choice questions and personalized searching all help narrow down the playing field. Sporting over 230,000 active users, OKCupid is also one of the biggest free sites of its kind. Love - or a more primitive form of it - is just a button click away.

Pros: One of a kind free dating service, extra features to narrow down matches, large user base.

Cons: Searching feature a little buggy.