femalenetwork.com

Once upon a time, Facebook was unknown to many, but look at the impact it now has on our daily lives—with all those hours spent commenting, playing games, answering quizzes, chatting, and tagging.

And while another site is envisioned by Conan O'Brien to be on its way to becoming the future's biggest online time-waster, YouTwitFace, Filipinos now also have a major social networking site to call their own.

Considered the first web portal for Filipinos by Filipinos, Smart Telecom's Sandbox offers social networking, forums, e-mail and blogging services, online shopping, and even multimedia downloads in one stop—both for web and mobile users.

While Sandbox provides users with social networking staples such as messaging, blogging, and sharing of photos, videos, and links, it also boasts of "Digisoria," an online bazaar where members can buy clothes and gadgets, among others, from fellow users.

Meanwhile, a separate multimedia store similar to Apple's iTunes Store offers music, video, and game downloads. Downloads are automatically charged to prepaid load or postpaid plans, so there's no need for credit cards.

Sandbox also sets itself apart from other social networking sites with its rewards and benefits system for members who participate in promotions and campaigns.

Smart subscribers with 3G handsets can access Sandbox for free via the Sandbox launcher (text SANDBOX to 211 first) or by pointing their WAP browsers to http://m.mysandbox.com. Non-subscribers can still experience Sandbox by logging on to http://www.mysandbox.com.