Earlier in the semester we discussed that we live in a small world, in which there are, on average, “six degrees of separation” between all individuals. However, in aSmallWorld (ASW), an exclusive online social network, everyone is connected by at most three degrees of separation. The following is the site’s description of itself:

ASMALLWORLD is a private online community, which 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.

The majority of members are wealthy and educated jet-setters, some of which are well-known socialites and celebrities. In order to join ASW, one must be invited by an existing and trusted member of the community; therefore, this procedure maintains that members have strong similarities and could potentially provide valuable information to other members. Myspace and Facebook lack exclusivity and their members have the potential to connect with any other members, regardless of whether or not members have mutual friends. Account holders may have relatively distant connections to other account holders, even though they are part of the same network, and do not trust or place any value on information from other members. ASW offers what such open networks fail to provide - strong connections and trustworthy information.

Within the internet-based world of ASW, all members act as gatekeepers to individuals outside the network because they prevent one from joining and restrict the flow of information between the inside and the outside of ASW. Even if a non-member knows a member of ASW, there is no edge connecting the two individuals and thus no path connecting the non-member to other members within ASW. In the real world, outside ASW, non-members and members may be well connected; however, within ASW, exclusivity and the ability to prevent edges from forming between members and non-members are crucial features of the network’s purpose. ASW gives the illusion that its members are not connected to the less educated and less fortunate members of the world. This vision does not hold in the real world but the network maintains that the information flowing across it is coming from like-minded individuals.

Many other gated online social networks have also popped up on the scene, such as modelshotels.com and diamondlounge.com. Arya Marafie, managing director of diamondlounge says “We are trying not to be elitist but we recognize the way things are on the Net, there’s a need to have an element of a gated system in place. Once you have the wrong people on these social networks, the whole thing is over,” as quoted by The New York Times. Creators of gated social network argue that it is essential to limit membership to maintain the high quality of connections and information. Furthermore, these networks have appointed individuals that monitor members’ activity and have the ability to take away memberships for network misconduct. Network monitors prevent low levels of connectivity and maintain that all members fit membership criteria. Since ASW’s start in 2004, over 270,000 members have joined the network, which indicates that obtaining a membership has become easier over time. In our highly connected world, it is impossible to limit connections to three degrees of separation and to create a network of strictly the most elite members of society.