Month: April 2005

PITT NEWS (Uni Pittsburgh) — Apr 11 — Catch27.com is the latest addition to the list of interactive Web sites for college students, which includes Friendster and Facebook. But, there's a catch, you trade your friends for hotter, smarter ones.  Not everyone can join Catch27.  "It's kind of an elite, edgy group of hot minds and hot bodies," the spokesperson explained. "If they're not, we kick them off the site."   A member must be at least 18, and few are older than 27.  A contest will reward people for using social networking and stereotyping to their advantage, Johnson said. "I think people are blind to the fact of how the social world really works, but it is really cruel in a lot of ways." This cruelty stems from the social exchange theory, a combination of behaviorism and economics, according to psychologist Richard Moreland.  "One party gives something and another gives a service in exchange." 

Mark Brooks: The Carroll sisters are at it again.  Catch 27 is fresh, viral, insightful and slightly insane…and follows up GreatBoyFriends.com.  Catch27 thrives on a new viral marketing term I'm coining, right here, right now.  'The perception of exclusivity.'  I paid a Sonoma winery a visit in 2001 and asked the 5th generation owner where I could get his wines.  Most were sold direct…  Great, I wanted some, direct.  How to?  Well, he said, you'll have to get on the email list.  OK, here's my email.  Nope.  I needed to write in with my email address, then I would join a two year waiting list to get onto his 3000 strong email list that buys 90% of his wine each year.  My jaw dropped but the guy was for real!  Friendster started the ball rolling on this concept in earnest.  Gmail followed suit.  Now Yahoo 360 is joining the bandwagon by limiting initial signups to 'the inner circle.'  It works, it drives people nuts, they talk, and it makes for some mighty cheap advertising.

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY — Apr 11 — According to the US Census Bureau 9 in 10 people will marry but one half of first marriages end in divorce. Between 1970 and 1996, the number of women living alone doubled to 14.6 million, and the number nearly tripled for men to 10.3 million.  One might guess that there's also a lot of dating going on. Instead, it seems that the older we get, the less we date.  In one study, by social psychologist Jerald  Bachman, Ph.D., nearly 50% of 18-year-olds were found to go out at least once a week, compared with 25% of 32-year-olds.  Singles seeking relationships assess unseen qualities in others based on social price as it is reflected in actions, body language and verbal communication.  Those exhibiting self-confident assertions of dating standards are perceived as holding relatively more promise as marriage partners.

The full article was originally published at Psychology Today, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Fascinating.  Perhaps it's time OPW broke out a section for discussion of the psych world and online personals.  Your comments please. 

OPW — Apr 9 — Many online personals companies are contemplating viral marketing. Here’s my favorite, most outrageous ‘viral campaign.’  A spot of British humor for you, from a rogue Ford marketing agency.  The Cat Clip is particularly alarming. Mark
> Ford SportKa Pigeon Clip    

SILICONVALLEY.COM — Apr 8 — Tribe Networks, an emerging player in online classified advertising and social networking, has appointed Jan Gullett to replace CEO Mark Pincus.  Tribe is backed by VC firm Mayfield, with additional funding from the Washington Post Co. and Knight Ridder.  Knight Ridder Senior Vice President Hilary Schneider serves on Tribe's board.  Gullett aims to bring a more consumer marketing focus to Tribe, and his background fits the bill. Early in his career, he rose through the ranks at Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee and PepsiCo. Pincus, a serial entrepreneur, started Tribe in 2003 at his kitchen table. Tribe lets users gather in virtual communities and offers classified ads for geographical regions in an attempt to integrate the classifieds offerings of Craiglist with the social-networking capabilities of Sunnyvale's Friendster.

Mark Brooks: Tribe is consistently growing.  Alexa rank is 3,000.  Craigslist has never needed to advertise and has barnstormed it's way to an Alexa rank of 63!  Similar with Friendster which is at an Alexa rank of 66 but showing signs of losing ground.  This is the power of viral marketing.  People love to talk about stuff they bought and sold, looked for and discovered.  The high utility and no agenda, unassuming styles of these sites have driven growth, without million dollar ad budgets.