Swedish social media entrepreneur, Erik Wachtmeister has launched an exclusive social media website called ‘Best of All Worlds’ that only targets the “top one per cent” of the world’s internet users.
The website is based on an invitation-only model, where according to Wachtmeister, only the “leaders” of a particular field are asked to join the site.
In an interview with Social Media Week, Mr Wachtmeister likened the site to a “private country club” that allowed the elites of a particular field to exchange ideas and plan events. But Wachtmeister refuted claims that the site fuelled the idea of snobbery.
“It is not about snobbery, it is human behaviour that has not yet effectively reached the online world,” Mr Wachtmeister said.
Mr Wachtmeister added that other social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook simply don’t cater to this market.
“Currently, interactive media is dominated by backwards-looking, vanity-centric news feeds on one hand and a boring CV database on the other,” Mr Wachtmeister said.
“Best of All World’s creates a platform where people can connect and explore what they want to do and with who in the future, rather than looking at what they missed and living vicariously in their friend’s past.”
According to the AAP, the site launched on August 28 with over 20,000 members under its belt. BrandChannel reports that since its launch, the site now has around 25,000 members from over 120 countries.
Mr Wachtmeister says he was directly involved in selecting who would be invited to join the website.
“I have lived and worked all over the world and therefore, my network is very diverse in terms of contacts, age and professional background. My objective is to seed Best of All Worlds so it’s truly global from day one. Therefore, I invited 5,000 particularly well-connected, international contacts,” he said.
The site is currently running ad-free and is being fuelled by Mr Wachtmeister’s own funds, but it will eventually move onto an advertising model. The site is set to pitch itself to marketers as a place to advertise exclusive high-end products.
Mr Wachtmeister also flagged that the site may eventually move onto a freemium model that offers users a premium service on the site for a fee.