aSmallWorld

Introducing aSmallWorld, it is a privately owned, exclusive, invitation only online community that began in 2004 to connect cosmopolitans around the world. As it is explained in their site, it is “designed for those who already have strong connections with one another. We allow our members to connect, reconnect and interact more effectively with like-minded individuals who share the same circle of friends, interests, and schedules”. It allows people in different cities to make events, give recommendations, and more interestingly conduct business. The names of the most cosmopolitan cities (including Paris, Los Angeles, New York, London, Tel Aviv, Munich, Vienna, Beirut, Dubai and many more) are stated in an easily accessible section allowing you get all the information you need about where to go regarding restaurants, bars, hotels, travel agents, hairdressers, spas, brokers, real estate and so on. It also has four sections for posting threads which are travel, business, discussions and le café. The great thing about this site is that it joins like minded people allowing discussions about anything from politics to the best vacation spots. It also helps people allocate things by asking for recommendations from people about anything from how to reserve a private jet, to finding a babysitter in a small town or even for opportunities for investments to start businesses. There are also sections for finding job opportunities, places to stay for short term and long term, roommates needed, and selling or buying. Invitation rights are reserved for certain members chosen by the board as representatives in each city that is stated. This is because they want to have “imposed certain criteria in order to keep the network exclusive”. This site is rumored to have members like Quentin Tarantino, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Ivanka Trump, Tiger Woods, Naomi Campbell, Prince Pavlos of Greece and many more famous people.
The reason I chose this site as a Web 2.0 is because first of all it is extremely data driven and depends on the members to create the highly reliable information you can obtain. This is shown in the threads where any question can be answered and discussed by individuals trying to give advice. It is also shown in the sections where they recommend different places in the “in” cities where everyone can give their personal ratings and opinions so you can hear from more than one person about their experiences.
The second reason I chose it is because its users add value to its credibility giving the site a competitive advantage. Although one of the ways listed for a site to be perceived as 2.0 is that the “service automatically gets better the more people use it”. In the case of this site it’s more about quality rather than quantity that makes this site so successful. Since the board of the website are very picky about who can join and who stays on the site it makes members more comfortable when seeking information. People who use offensive writings or send inappropriate private messages can be reported as “abusive” and the management can decide to expel them from aSmallWorld into aBigWorld which allows them to see what is happening on aSmallWorld with limited access and no chance for participation. Like before moving to France I asked many questions regarding which are the safe areas to live in, which schools are good and their reputation, I even looked for an apartment and a possible roommate through this site with the full security that I was receiving reliable information from people who are more like me rather than any other site like myspace where anyone can join and give their opinion. It is easy to retrieve information through the use of folksonomy since you can type any tag word and be referred to all aspects of the site that cover it.
Due to the success and huge publicity that this site has received many copy cats have tried to either compete or mock aSmallWorld by coming up with asmallerworld or abiggerworld. aSmallWorld doesn’t rely on advertising, instead its popularity is driven by its word of mouth exclusivity and publicity. It has been covered in magazines, newspapers, and TV such as CNN, CNBC, Vanity Fair, Time, AdvertisingAge, The New York Times, Tatler, Herald Tribune, Wired, Avenue and many more. aSmallWorld has also had advertisements from companies such as Moet & Chandon, Illy, and different art exhibitions that are going on, which is a perfect place to market them because of the exclusivity of the site.