When social networking sites started becoming popular, many joined looking to meet and find new friends. Those who keep up with the trend are starting to join specialized social networking sites.

When social networking sites started becoming popular, many joined looking to meet and find new friends. Those who keep up with the trend are starting to join specialized social networking sites, in order to avoid the negatives of the generalized social networking site.

Why is the Specialized Member Site making waves?

People like other people who share some common interest. So why join a site where you have to deal with hundreds of profiles just to meet others who have common interests? Social networking sites today have become niche sites, catering to specific interests. One of the main industries taking advantage of this tool is the Association industry.

Why this Industry?

The reason associations are taking advantage of social networking site is that association members already share a common interest. Many of these organizations hold events and conference once or twice a year where members can meet and network, so why not extend the networking aspect to the internet? Instead of once or twice a year, members can connect year round.

Benefits

1. Customizable for Members

Associations and members benefit by offering their members a way to connect outside of the typical conferences and events.

2. No Spam attacks

Niche sites can offer limited membership to prevent spammers from ever signing up. We saw this work with Facebook. Before Facebook was open to the public, only someone with an .edu email was able to sign up which created a niche social networking site for college students. The typical spammer is not going to have an .edu account.

3. Take advantage of the big boys

Being niche allows you to take what is great about the major social sites and use them to your advantage. Members can enjoy the benefits that a social networking site offers without the other major hassles. Users can create personal profiles, share documents, video, pictures, and stay in touch with other members year round.

The internet continues to be a valuable tool to businesses. The idea of networking has been taken and extended though to the internet. Instead of having to rely mainly on events and conferences for networking opportunities, they can now network 24 hours a day, which is proving to be a powerful tool for any association.