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FT begins niche social networking 

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Last week, while blogging on Facebook, and the fall in interest in it, the rise of niche social networking sites seemed to be one obvious knock-on effect of that and today the Financial Times has confirmed just that with a launch of its niche network.The FT has announced it is to launch an exclusive social network service for executives working in the media and technology industries.

It's an obvious move for the FT and it is the first media company in the UK to push ahead with such plans. I fully expect others will launch similar initiates (if not, they should be), building networks around small, like-minded communities.

The FT's service is clearly aimed at the top end of the market with a £1,700 price tag, but there is quite a lot on offer for your money, with not just the ability to contact fellow members, but free passes for any FT Global Conferences and Events portfolio as well as face-to-face networking events.

The FT says that the Telecoms Media and Technology Executive Membership Forum is the first in a series of membership forums it plans to launch with plans for the luxury goods and property sectors to follow later this year.

There is no reason why other newspaper groups could not do it. You could, for instance, easily imagine the Guardian launching something similar, bringing together a number of areas where it is strong, such as education, the public sector, media and even politics.

It's the kind of thing you can imagine B2B publishers would be interested in also, as well as many other groups.

In the professional sector, the FT could pose a challenge for services like Linked In, but it seems more complimentary and not necessarily in any way exclusive. Oddly enough Linked In had an announcement of its own today with a mobile version of its professional social network in six languages. Among other things, it will make it easier for people to add new contacts and find out information about people while on the move.
Published Feb 25 2008, 03:41 PM by Gordon Macmillan
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Gordon Macmillan

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