“Myspace for Millionaires” is purging untrustworthy members

A few years ago, a tiny social network catering exclusively to rich wastrels called ASmallWorld became a momentary fascination of gossip sites like ours, because, hey—an “invitation only” snobby Facebook for rich people? Someone dial up the NYT Style section piece at once! At the peak of its hype, the company attracted Harvey Weinstein as an investor; but ASW’s traffic remained flat, and the sheen of the “Myspace for Millionaires” wore off, and he offloaded his stake. Eventually, people who weren’t members of ASW stopped hearing about it.

Until now! Because ASW—which still exists, like a relic from an earlier, more innocent time—is now trying to regain its bygone sense of exclusivity. First was an email that went out to members last month, informing them that “As part of a larger initiative to ensure the integrity of our membership, we are closing our community to new members on March 1, 2013.” And then, today, the lucky surviving members received this notification of the purge:

Dear Valued Member,

Trust is important to us. How important? Well, as part of our ongoing efforts to protect the integrity of our membership, we have decided to terminate the accounts of anyone who undermines the unique spirit of openness that serves as the cornerstone of ASW-and sets our community apart.

Obviously you are not one of those people! You’re receiving this email because we value your contributions to the community, and we hope you always feel comfortable here at ASW, online and off. The reality is simply that our growth has inadvertently allowed certain members to degrade this trust, and those are the people we’re exiling, effective immediately.

It is our hope that this will help you feel even more at ease in sharing your life with the rest of the ASW community.

Warm Regards and Happy Travels,

The ASW Team

P.S. Should you wish to review the conduct expected of an ASW member, feel free to read our Rules. In the event that you feel a member is in clear violation of our Rules, please email support@asw.com.

It sure sounds like ASW is purging people who are leaking hot inside information like, I dunno, where Hud Morgan is eating brunch. Which is strange, since there hasn’t been any good ASW-related gossip in years.

If there is something worth leaking from this flailing Eurotrash mutual masturbation society, you should, of course, send it to us.

By Hamilton Nolan