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LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Visits to social networking websites climbed 11.5 percent in February with big surges in popularity seen in smaller players such as Buzznet and iMeem, Hitwise research revealed on Wednesday. Online traffic to MySpace, which claims the lion’s share social networking visits, rose 10.2 percent in February as compared to January while second-place Facebook visits climbed 9.1 percent, according to Hitwise.

Meanwhile, visits to the photo and journal sharing website Buzznet and to iMeem website where users share blogs, pictures, video and audio more than doubled, Hitwise reported. MySpace got 80 percent of social networking visits while iMeem and Buzznet each had less than one percent of the overall total for the month. Facebook was the second most popular online social website with 10 percent of the visits, according to Hitwise. "While MySpace is still by far the dominant social networking website, sites like Buzznet and iMeem are succeeding in building communities around music and other media," said Hitwise research director LeeAnn Prescott. "The social networking category will continue to grow as new sites emerge with unique offerings."

The February results signal the growing popularity of startups such as iMeem, launched in 2004, and Buzznet, launched in 2003, but that they still have "a mountain to climb" to surpass MySpace, Hitwise said.