MBAs Of The World, Unite!- Click here http://bit.ly/ouWgTy for full article

MBAs Of The World, Unite!- Click here http://bit.ly/ouWgTy for full article

There is no doubt that social networking has come a long way from the early days of Friendster and MySpace. Social networking has given us Internet celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Tila Tequila. A 2010 film about the convoluted origins of the world's most pervasive social network (Facebook) took top honors at most film festivals and award ceremonies. And let's not forget about the valuations of the top social networks: Facebook and Twitter are reportedly worth billions of dollars.

After seeing the explosive growth of social media in the last few years, many experts and observers are predicting that while social networking is poised to become more popular, it will gravitate towards providing exclusive experiences for their members. This means that niche social networking sites that attract members with certain common interests will grow at rates faster than those that allow anyone to join. This means, for example, that business professionals may consider LinkedIn over Facebook; or that working musicians will prefer SoundCloud over MySpace.

Some of today's most active and cohesive niche social networks evolved organically thanks to their members. Examples of such networks include Orkut for Brazilians and Ravelry for knitters. Members of niche social networking sites tend to be more passionate of their chosen community.

A new niche social networking site that aims to bring together the MBA community began as a blog in 2005. "Beat the GMAT" was created by a Stanford student who set his sights on getting admitted to a top business school, a key academic ritual that requires a good Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score and can culminate in being awarded the coveted Master of Business Administration diploma. From its humble beginnings as a single-authorship blog, Beat the GMAT evolved into a social network for MBA hopefuls (and MBAs) to get together and discuss strategies for acing the GMAG and getting into business school.

Beat the GMAT has been redesigned into MBAWatch, and now the site bills itself as the world's largest social network for MBA applicants. The new sites includes many features that are reminiscent of those found in Facebook. Members of MBAWatch will definitely enjoy the way the site aggregates and organizes data pertaining to different business schools. Members also have the opportunity to share their stats as they pertain to the application process.

MBAWatch is a perfect example of the future of social networking. The information shared on MBAWatch goes beyond mere status updates or messages from members, it can significantly shape a member's quest for an MBA degree.