Amid the flurry of new social networking sites - one stands out as being different. Gather.com was founded by a team of very experienced startup veterans - a significant number of which came from a public radio background.
As a result, Gather has a relaxed yet intellectual feel to it. Gather members relish a good story and pride themselves on adding to the knowledge pool represented by their site.
Members can form groups on Gather, and many crafting and hobby groups can be found. I have yet to find the "she-dumped me boo hoo" type posts found on other social networking sites.
The company closed its $6M second round of funding in January - with investors that included the former CEO of Lotus Development Corp (remember Lotus?). Investors are drawn to Gather due to its unique ability to segment members three ways - by demographics, keywords, and behaviors. This improves potential advertising conversion rates - and gives a great incentive to advertise on Gather.
Personally, I believe Gather is a company to watch for three reasons: 1) It is not spending lots of marketing cash on glitzy press (remember Webvan?) but is quietly conducting a Word of Mouth campaign through Bzzagent.com to generate a viral effect 2) Visiting this site is like attending a readers club, or a country fair - it is inviting and real 3) Content has a MUCH higher quality level than other social networking sites who are too busy catering to the teens.
There is one more reason - Gather caters to the largest market segment, the BabyBoomers. This segment is also the most stable and loyal, which is what counts in the long run.
