The Rise Of ‘Exclusive’ Social Networking

Private social networks appears to be on the rise, enticing affluent consumers with the promise of exclusive networking, with many sites only accessible via strict invite-only policies and a “rigorous application process based on education, job title, connections and lots of virtual velvet rope.“ Launched in 2004, ASmallWorld is perhaps one of the most well known sites for the wealthy, described as ‘MySpace for millionaires‘ by Wall Street Journal, promising to connect ’culturally influential people’.

Founder Erik Wachtmeister realised there was an “existing community of people connected by three degrees of separation…and they needed a platform to share and receive information–it was a huge untapped opportunity.” With a global community of 250, 000 members, Wachtmeister maintains that ASmallWorld is a niche community- indeed if the platform no longer felt exclusive for members, it becomes more difficult to justify the $105 yearly membership fee for a social network that operates essentially like Facebook.

The idea of creating a private social network for select groups has been adopted for other niche communities- IvyConnect is an invite-only social network that targets college graduates- not just from Ivy League, but rather more broadly the ‘young urban professional elite’ who are then vetted and hand-selected by staff. IvyConnect has no affiliation with Ivy League, however has aptly chosen the word ‘ivy’ to closely associate itself with the elite image of the Ivy League institutions.

With a hefty annual fee of $500 for IvyConnect members, it is clear that people are willing to pay for a premium service that caters to their networking interests and also protects their privacy- an area Facebook traditionally falls short in. The benefits of belonging to an exclusive social network is that you are interacting with a specialised group of people who share social and professional interests with you, and you pay a fee to weed out the people who don’t fit into that category.

At the core of these sites is their ability to connect like-minded professionals with mutual interests across the globe- and an understanding by these companies that they need to provide quality utilities built on ‘social, real-time, personalised interactions and collaborations’, to match the elite image they are projecting. Indeed it is important for all businesses that have exclusivity as one of their selling points to provide reliable tools that will enhance and streamline the customer’s online networking experience.

The Rise Of ‘Exclusive’ Social Networking