Way Too Good for Facebook or MySpace?

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Notably, the site already features classified ads where people sell classic Jaguars, yachts, and Cartier watches. Advertisers include champagne producer Moët & Chandon (LVMH) and private-jet company Sentient.

Yet to make aSW a financial success, Wachtmeister has to balance demand for exclusivity against an advertiser's hunger to reach more eyeballs. Wachtmeister says aSW, which has 35 employees, is nearing profitability. And he rejects any suggestion that standards are being lowered as it grows. "The new members we get today could be as good, if not better, than some of the members we got a year ago," he says. "We can go a long way before we have to worry."

Some aSW members disagree. They argue that the site has accepted people who don't have much in common with the original group of 500, hand-selected by Wachtmeister, an investment banker and the son of a Swedish diplomat.

Disgruntled Jet Set

On one of the site's discussion boards, a member lamented that a real-world party recently promoted on the site was attended by people whom he didn't recognize as aSW members. In response, another member wrote: "I've been to a few aSW-only events that one would have thought were Facebook (or even MySpace) people." Another complained: "Here in Spain, a great share of people becoming members nowadays do not match the original profile of 2004, 2005 [admitted members]. At all."

Naturally, discontent among some aSW members has encouraged a handful of would-be competitors to launch social-networking and event sites pledging to be even more exclusive.

BeautifulPeople.net promises members the "most beautifully, exclusive little black book in the world." The site asks potential members to submit photos and profile information for review by existing members. Members pay subscription fees.

DiamondLounge, which bills itself as a private members' club for the rich, famous, and powerful, plans to launch Oct. 1. Arya Marafie, DiamondLounge's managing director, says members will be accepted by invitation or by submitting a Web application. Rival sites, Marafie says, bill themselves as networks for "for millionaires and beautiful people, and then they let everyone in. DiamondLounge is a whole lot more exclusive."

Rather than seek ad revenue, DiamondLounge will rely on subscription fees and extra charges for premium services, such as the use of online conferencing services. Marafie says the club will shoot for 5,000 to 20,000 members and plans to host members-only, "red carpet" events in the real world, perhaps with sponsorship from advertisers.

Mainstream in Disguise

Real-world events are a key attraction of aSmallWorld. Every day, happenings are listed for people in hot spots such as Beijing, Cannes, Dubai, Paris, New York City, and the Hamptons. Some events are intimate gatherings thrown by aSW members simply to connect with others in the network. One recent event, a Hudson River sailing expedition, brought together about 10 people who sipped white wine and socialized while cruising up and down the river. "If you are a member, it gives people the impression that you are vouched for," says aSW member Dennis Lin, a 30-year-old project manager for a Manhattan financial-software company. "It allows people to let down their guard a little bit, and they are more open to going out."

But some events listed on aSW are just mainstream events in disguise, posted by publicists who have gained access to the site's message boards. These soirees, like a recent one held at a large New York lounge called the Forum, can be indistinguishable from any other event. Most people at the Forum that night—including the bouncer—had never heard of aSmallWorld. They had simply heard that the sponsor was giving away rum-based drinks for the first hour.

While some aSW members are peeved, there are plenty who like the idea of aSmallWorld that's large. Some are eagerly awaiting the day they might get invite privileges so they can move over their Facebook contacts. "What's wrong with meeting new people?" wrote one member. "What did you use to do before the Internet when you had to rub shoulders with all the common riff-raff? Don't be such a snob."

Holahan is a writer for BusinessWeek.com in New York.