Comments on: Scarcity and Exclusivity Online

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 07:25:30 +0000

I agree Shawn, the social networks pose some interesting questions when it comes to “exclusivity”. For communities that have “friends” or “connections” such as Facebook or LinkedIn, will that feeling of exclusivity be sustained as more users join? If I have 1000 friends, isn’t it a little less meaningful than when I had 100? How will an overabundance of users keep from turning into “Privé for everyone”?
Perhaps the meaning of a “friend” or a “connection” online will come to reflect their real-world counterparts, where over time, certain contacts are more important than others.

By: mandydale

mandydale — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 07:18:05 +0000

A Small World (http://www.asmallworld.net) is another high-end exclusive social network that has been around for several years. I saw a presentation from their CEO the other day, and he said the average income of their user base is $150,000. They hand-pick their advertisers who are high-end luxury brands (NetJets, Moët & Chandon, etc.). It could be that the exclusivity is more desirable to these types of brands, as they are actually reaching an audience who has the money to purchase their high-priced items.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 14:56:02 +0000

Some well-known but exclusive social networks (Facebook, Doostang) and dating websites (j-date,SquareDating) come to mind. These don’t represent retail or marketing strategies, but they’re worth mentioning. The web is fertile ground for intentional communities that organically (sorry) spring up around ideologies or interests. To define a community or market from the top down, so to speak, seems antithetical to the Web’s spirit and purpose, but it makes sens as a reflection of our basic sociology.

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:31:03 +0000

IMHO the prolonged ‘beta’ periods for web services are another example. Google services’ (orkut, gmail, etc) beta phases are less a part of a software dev process (IMHO) and more a cycle to generate a critical mass of ‘insiders’ with exclusive access.
That generates wider demand among an audience associated directly or indirectly with these influencers/early adopters.