Faceparty does an eons.com in reverse – but for the right reasons

Eons.com went from being a 50-plus social networking site to an all things to all men (women) site in an act of desperation when it was forced to rely on real, rather than purchased Web traffic.

A UK outfit called Faceparty (never heard of them - well you are in good company) has gone in the opposite direction. This is a bit of the article in Marketing Week

Social networking site Faceparty is axing the accounts of users aged over 36, because it claims older users pose a danger of sex offending. The site says that it has been forced into the move because of changes in government legislation.

It says it has deleted "a huge number of accounts" from the site in recent weeks. Explaining the move on its website, Faceparty says: "We understand that only a minority of older users are sex offenders, but you must understand that we cannot tell which."

It says that new government legislation means such sites must check if older users appear on the government's sex offenders list. However, the legislation is based on checking addresses, and as Faceparty has not insisted on validated email addreses it cannot participate in the scheme.

Clearly this is a strategy (all though I am not sure if a ‘strategy’ is a word that Faceparty would admit to possessing or wanting) that is all about generating media coverage and reinforcing its youthful anarchistic image. Eons.com tries to increase its audience by widening the age range – Faceparty has the same goal but the opposite tactic. Both are likely to be doomed to failure although I do have to admire Faceparty for coming up with such a ludicrous story. Dick Stroud