It was bound to happen sooner or later. With the overwhelming growth of Facebook and LinkedIn among general audiences, various powerful elites and accomplished businessmen have decided to create their own online social networks by invitation only (with a credentials check). Very much like the country clubs and private golf courses they spend their leisure time on, it only makes sense that these closed-gate communities have started joining the online social networking world in a similar exclusive manner. Here are some examples taken from a recent Business Week article:
Reuters Space
“In October, British news giant Reuters (RTRSY) launched a private online networking community for hedge fund managers, traders, and analysts. Dubbed Reuters Space (space.reuters.com), the industry-specific site leverages its own pool of proprietary data on thousands of companies to verify the employment status of applicants, be they futures traders or chief investment officers. Members each have a feeds page, where they collect news from Reuters and other sources tailored to their financial specialty. Each one also has a profile page—a personal blog where they post notes to colleagues and close industry contacts and set privacy controls to determine who has access to their contact information. The site has potential for companywide rollouts: For example, London-based Schroders Investment Management, a global asset management firm, is planning to adopt the platform to give more of a sense of community to its employees in 24 offices around the world.”
Inmobile.org
“Launched in April, 2006, INmobile.org is a network of more than 900 executives who work in or close to the wireless industry. To qualify, you have to be at least a director at a large company, a vice-president at a midsize company, or in the C-suite of a startup. So far, members include executives from carriers such as Verizon Wireless, content providers such as Walt Disney (DIS), and handset makers such as Nokia (NOK). Arthur Goikhman and Stephen Dacek, co-founders of New York mobile-games startup Cellufun, joined in February. They were able to make connections with Yahoo! (YHOO) on the site and struck a deal with the search giant to place ads with Cellufun’s games. “I’m glad it’s not a free-for-all,” says Dacek. “It really does make it a lot easier to network.”
Diamond Lounge
“This invitation-only social and business network, making its debut this month, relies on a selection committee elected by all members on the site. The committee has already chosen 100 members out of more than 7,000 applications that came in before Diamond Lounge (diamondlounge.com) went live. Members, who pay a monthly $60 fee, can hail from any industry and have two identities: a social profile in “the Lounge” and a business profile in “the Boardroom.” For the social profile, members set limits on who can view them based on such characteristics as age, physical build, and gender; for the boardroom they provide their income, industry, and job title. They can exchange gifts, much like Facebook, where members buy icons of cakes and teddy bears, for example—but Diamond Lounge gifts include real Gucci bags or tickets to business events.”
Marketers will surely be drooling over these “long-tail” audiences trying to figure out a way to join the conversation with them now that they are not invited (unlike Facebook and LinkedIn where brands and companies often create profiles and groups). Surely there will be less SPAM, but is this closed-gate community building a smart move? What do you think?