FaceBook for the Super Rich?
Recession? What recession?
The members of Total Prestige, an exclusive social network catering to only the rich, do not have to worry about such things.
Wired.com reports:
The 15-year-old organization used to just be a Rolodex with 50,000 names — a sort of offline LinkedIn of the Rich and Famous doing introductions in all the non-digital ways. But it’s now catching up with technology and taking on an online presence with a social network that launched in September, with plans also for a global rollout of quarterly print magazines in some glittering world capitals.
There are currently around 637 members on the site, and an additional 400 high-profile people have decided against creating a public profile but can still view all the content. Ten members are billionaires. Most of them come from Europe and the Middle East, and range from royalty and entrepreneurs to entertainers.
Now don’t expect these folks to be sending each other silly quizzes and such like, the whole thrust is obviously going to be about mixing with the rich and famous and adding more gazzilions to their already stuffed bank accounts.
For a “prestige” site, I am shocked it is built on the ning platform.
Even so … anyone got an invite? ;)
chris,
my 2 cents. with info being democratized, I think it’s easier for someone form humble beginnings to reach internet rock star status if they put out some great content (funny, entertaining, persuasive, educational, etc) and basically has their own communication channel available for free if it goes viral.
look at gary vaynerchuk. his knowledge of wine is closely matched by his passion for what he does in addition to caring about his followers.
I think web2.0 has leveled the playing field and most people have decent chance to break into the “elite” status if they find what they do well, cultivate it and have strong desire to share w/ others. (beyond sharing- what I had for breakfast this morning)
comm channels in past have been controlled by large corps but that’s just about dead. a lot of hustle w/ guerrilla social promoting (providing you have good content) can catapult you pretty fast.
@Todd – I agree but I do find even in the internet world there are cliques, and status (however you define it) is used for or against people. Some people are becoming more open, but just because a celebrity or millionaire has a facebook account doesn’t mean they want to mix with the rest of us :)