(Online Dating Industry Journal) Rogue Connect, a social networking site with a focus on fashion, relaunched on the 1st of December 2005 after several months of development, having initially launched in late 2004. It was developed by four young Australian college students and is now redeveloped to emphasize fashion and style.
“We first launched Rogue Connect while we were all university students,” explains Daniel P Dykes, founding director of Rogue Connect. “It was a half-hearted experiment to see how people would react to a low-key socialising site. But we never defined what we wanted the site to be, we hadn’t yet thought of a formula”.
The founders hope that the site's focus on style and its claim of being free but "exclusive" will help gain it a competitive edge against such popular social networking sites as MySpace and Friendster. A recent release by Rogue Connect claims, "The importance of fashion now figures heavily into the site, and is to Rogue Connect what music is to the popular social networking site MySpace.com. Unlike other social networking sites, Rogue Connect allows members to express themselves through their sense of style in a unique ‘style journal’ which users can relay what they wear each day for others to read and comment upon. In essence, the style journal is a collaborative group blog. Other features on the site also feature elements on fashion, right down to questioning prospective members about their favourite fashion labels in their basic profile."
Kim's Comments:
It is becoming more and more apparent that free social networking sites are not only being used as a way to meet people of similar interests or find long lost friends, but also as a unique form of online dating. If Rogue Connect gains even half the popularity that MySpace has, it can prove to be not only profitable but yet another hurtle that traditional online dating industry participants have to leap over in their race for the singles marketplace.
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