http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/01/facebook.socialnetworking?gusrc=rss&feed=technologyfull
(((I wonder where the bottom-billion social-software for the wretched-of-the-earth is.)))
(((If you've heard about it, it's already too late to join.)))
Link: .
(...)
Founded four years ago, by Erik Wachtmeister, a former investment banker, (((soon everybody in the news will be a "former investment banker"))) ASW aims to provide a hidden corner of the internet where members - often affluent, educated and with multiple residences - can swap tips on everything from investing in Cambodia to partying in Uruguay without worrying about anything as crass as being poked, high-fived or spammed. Members have their own profile page. Free to join, its users are young, the average age is 32, with somewhere between 65% and 70% coming from Europe. Users who step out of line, by either contacting members they don't already know, aggressive marketing or celebrity-stalking (Tiger Woods and Naomi Campbell are among the glitterati) are banished.
One of the site's main features is an active forum, and a quick browse around the threads leaves the visitor in little doubt that ASW is not only a small but also a different world. "Buyer is looking to buy gold bars [bullion] by the metric ton. Must be 999.5 of fineness or better," reads one. Among the Bentleys and small hotels for sale in the high-end classifieds, a shopper looks for a "150+ft yacht for the week of the SuperBowl in Tampa, FL".
On signing up to ASW, members are reminded of the site's maxim: "We live in a small world, and we want to keep it that way." But since its inception the site has grown from 500 to about 325,000 users in more than 200 countries, and in recent months there has been growing dissent. A recent thread entitled "Death of ASW" sparked 8,600 responses. One consultant from Milan complained: "Definitely ASW was a better place when I joined in September 2004 ... now you can find personal assistants/secretaries ... is this supposed to be an exclusive site???"
But Wachtmeister is confident the site can grow comfortably to a million users. In a recent interview he said: "Our goal is to grow very, very carefully ... If we employ the right methodology, we can grow to a million people and still be as exclusive as we are today. The world is a big place."...
