"Open" Communities, Social Networking Sites vs. "Gated" Communities

Written by: Marc Lucas

The recent phenomenon of so called "Gated Online Communities" seems to be catching on. These sites are part of a group of sites called "Social Networking Sites" these sites are still rare on the net, with only a handful of them now online. More common are Social Networking sites which are "Open" i.e. anyone can join. Some examples of these sites are http://www.Friendster.com and http://www.MySpace.com. Other commonly known sites target the business individual like http://www.ecademy.com or http://www.rize.com. "Gated" Social Networking sites cater for a smaller more exclusive group of people which could be called privileged, either because of their wealth, there social status (which often goes hand in hand), or just because they are well known celebrities.

Mostly these individuals do not wish to mingle with common people found in the more commercial social networking sites. Sites like http://www.OutOrIn.net and http://www.aSmallWorld.net target these individuals through a more or less strict membership application process. For example most of us are used to stand behind the velvet rope and wait patiently for a grim looking individual to let us pass and grant us entry into the "exclusive" and "hip" clubs. This is a well known ritual around the world repeating itself every Saturday or any other Party night of the week. The privilege to experience this real life concept of being rejected by the bouncer in cyber space is give to us thanks to "Gated" Online Communities. Another example of a "Gated" Community is http://www.orkut.com by Google, which at the moment counts over 12.000.000 Members. While the "Gated" aspect is in place most people would not brand it as an exclusive Online Community, because of it's number of Members. http://www.aSmallWorld.net introduced the Internet to the exclusive virtual club scene of Gated Social Networking sites, by demanding to be invited by another member of the site before gaining membership.

This phenomenon seems to be catching on, after http://www.OutOrIn.net announced its launch last month. While you are able to buy an Orkut membership still on eBay, other "Gated" Community Sites do not make it so easy to join. This has created a grey market on Blogs with people offering money to gain membership for these sites. "Who are these people so desperate to join these sites offering thousands of dollars to get an invitation"? Gated Community Sites will discourage the common individual even about thinking to join, with requirements like "You need to have attended a prestigious university or boarding school" or "You need to be a member of a Members Only Club" like requested by http://www.OutOrIn.net. Still if you manage to fulfil all their criteria, you will be happy and excited to receive your membership, join and have the feeling of being "one in a million" - not so fast - the membership application still need's to pass the committee! But do not let me discourage you, especially if you're extremely wealthy and well connected!