AShutWorld

ASmallWorld closes

This morning on Facebook, Patrick Liotard-Vogt announced that ASmallWorld has been shut “for a spiritual break”.

He added: “The past was great, the future will be amazing! Stay tuned!” and posted an image of the site’s new holding page. It states:

“Hello there! ASMALLWORLD is away at the moment. But not because we’re on vacation… We’ve been hard at work on something extraordinary—and we’ll be back in just a few days. If you can’t wait til [sic] then, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for hints about what’s to come.

In previous days Mr Liotard-Vogt variously announced that an ASmallWorld Foundation will be established, that ASmallWorld will turn “social media into a travel guide”, that ASmallWorld had acquired ASmallWorld.com “after eight years of painful negotiations” and that ASmallWorld had bought something called “The World’s Finest Clubs”.

The mixed messages of these strategies are puzzling and plainly a lack of cohesion is illustrated here. Frankly, instead, if Mr Liotard-Vogt had any sense, he’d simply close his social network down for good.

Though we wish Mr Liotard-Vogt no ill, we must state that though ASmallWorld was a great website in 2004, it’s just a car crash in 2013.

Watch a Bloomberg video that suggests ASmallWorld has become a travel guide at: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/is-social-media-the-new-travel-guide-NS1F~msVSkGlcjn8t2Qigw.html