PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE -- Apr 27 -- Catch27 encourages members, mostly 18-30, to trade their friends for 'hotter, smarter ones.' The site also is launching a "black ball" feature that some members will be able to use to kick others off. FunHi, with 150,000 users, emulates a club and 'bounces' users who lack style, like people who 'look homeless,' according to co-founder Ray Savant. The sites' founders think the Friendsters of the world went wrong by letting anyone in -- and that, as a result, those pioneering services lost the feeling of a community mirroring an actual clique. Friendster, which takes in ad revenue, says it just became profitable this year. ASmallWorld plans a premium membership service where members would pay for additional features. When a site called www.closedsociety.net launched, it opened its first 100 registrations to the public via a Google ad: "Join now and be a VIP." Only about 40 people applied.
The full article was originally published at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: People want what they can't have. The 'perception of exclusivity' is a powerful element of the success of social networking.
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