The Newsvine Velvet Rope

Susan Mernit's post on Bloggers playing the influence game illustrates how people are using the Web 2.0 hype to create rediculous amounts of buzz, with the hopes of being the next Google or Yahoo! acquisition.

Newsvine has played this tune brilliantly. With their invitation-only system, they have bloggers across the web clamoring for a coveted invite.

The rationale put forward is that exclusivity will help foster community and raise the standard of dialogue. However, considering I've seen a number of posts by people who say "I've got extra newsvine invites, anyone want them?" -- that hardly seems like quality control.

The difference between the internet and the real-world is that if you invite 20 strangers to a party and they behave poorly, then your reputation is at stake.

As far as I can tell, Newsvine offers no sense of accountability -- no penalties for inviting someone who then spams the forum.

But in terms of a marketing exercise, it was a good idea, because it got people talking.

... and yes, I'd like an invite: kaigani [at] gmail [dot] com