With the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Skype creating a veritable social networking tornado on the web, it's only natural for people to want to take those personal connections with them where ever they go. And, true to form, tech-savvy users have found a way to make practically any Wi-Fi enabled device act as a social hub, with Sony's PSP being no exception. Let's make it clear from the start though; for any of these programs to work you'll need a ready source of Wi-Fi. If you can't find a connection, you're pretty much out of luck. However, since wireless internet connections are spreading quickly, you shouldn't have much trouble finding one.

The first, most practical option to keep in touch with those important to you would be a program that comes standard with every new PSP now on stores shelves: Skype. Skype is a social networking and internet phone application that allows users to keep in touch via profile messages or by a simple, free (as long as the recipient is also using Skype) phone call. Users who wish to place a call from their Skype-connected device to an actual carrier phone number will need to purchase credits in order to do so.

The majority of PSP owners, which includes anyone who purchased their systems before October of last year, will need to purchase a microphone peripheral to be able to converse with their friends. However, those fortunate enough to have a PSP-3000 model on their hands will notice that the built-in microphone located on the front of the handheld eliminates the need for any extraneous accessory purchases.

If voice calls aren't your style you can always resort to a more standard method of communication like text. PSP users have a multitude of options in this area, so lets run down a few of the better ones.

Firstly there's AIMonPSP. After plugging your AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) username and password into www.AIMonPSP.com, you'll be greeted with an aesthetically pleasing — if a little slimmed-down — version of the popular messaging client. It does a respectable job of imitating the real AIM experience but falls a bit short on a couple of areas. Out of no fault of its own, AIMonPSP is forced to use a non-QWERTY, cell phone-esque text entry method, making for some slow conversations if you're not used to it. Actually, this is a problem that all of the PSP messaging options have working against them, but if you can overlook it there is still plenty to enjoy.

The other area where AIMonPSP falters is that it seems slow when compared to traditional AIM or even some other PSP messaging options. So if you're absolutely pressed for a way to access AIM and your PSP is handy, this isn't the worst option available, but it's certainly not the best.

That honor goes to eBuddy (direct your PSP to www.ebuddy.com/psp/), an all-in-one web messaging app that really makes use of the PSP's strengths. eBuddy for PSP offers connections to AIM, MSN, Google Talk, Facebook, ICQ and MySpace, all from the diminutive handheld. Each of the networks available through eBuddy is faithfully represented and seems to offer more responsiveness than other options we've tried.

Some networks, however, are better designed than others. The stars of the show here are AIM, MSN and Yahoo! Messenger. While they are perhaps the simplest to emulate by a third party program, this also translates into a smoother experience when they're used on a device such as the PSP.

Upon entering any of these networks you'll want to do some tweaking of the settings as they are not always optimized to a PSP experience. For example, the first thing you'll want to do when entering the eBuddy version of AIM is change the settings to not show users who are offline, as they will clutter up your tiny screen.

eBuddy goes a long way to turn the PSP into a messaging powerhouse, but what if you like your social networking to have more of a networking feel? Well, this is where "mobile" sites come in. Many social networking divas such as Facebook and Twitter have mobile versions for use on cellular phones, PDAs, and... PSPs!

The PSP is a mobile platform, so why not use the mobile options that were created by the folks behind the sites you love? Both m.twitter.com and m.facebook.com offer perfectly functional alternatives to looking up full-size versions of these sites using the PSP's browser. Simply type these mobile sites into the PSP browser's address bar.

So if you're stuck somewhere away from your precious laptop, and your iPhone was dropped into a puddle and then run over by a dump truck, don't fret! If you have your PSP handy with a ready source of Wi-Fi you'll still be able to Twitter exactly what you ate for lunch, update your Facebooks status to 'My iPhone = Busted :(', and even place a Skype call to order a new one. Stay connected!