Walled garden to gated community

Stuart Hogue has written a great piece for Brandchannel.com.

From the walled garden to the gated community—why social networks would benefit from keeping the riffraff out

When social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook first emerged on the scene, their emphasis was on quantity, rather than quality, of connections. Friends were collected, groups joined, walls posted upon. But increasingly, users have begun to demand that the same rules of distinction and exclusivity that govern our real-life interactions be represented in the online space.

Smaller, more specialized groups are the online networking tools of tomorrow.

The article explores the origins, benefits, and business potential of exclusive social networks.