Everyday I hear about new social networks that dream to be as popular as Facebook or Google+, but unfortunately only a few make it. To be more exactly, I think Pinterest is the only one but only because it has an unique style. So, why would you choose to create an account on a new website, or even more, to completely move on a new social network? Well, in 99% of the cases, this wont happen but from time to time, a brand new idea comes around. This time it’s called Zurker.com, a completely new concept which can create a very big hype. Why? Because Zurker is the only social network owned by its members.

Yup, you hear it right. When you signup, you own part of the actual social network itself by earning vShares (a stake of ownership, or equity) for referring their friends. If the community will be a success and more and more people will use Zurker, your stake in Zurker becomes more valuable.

The startup is very young and since December 2011 is in alpha testing so it’s not officially live so it’s a great opportunity for early adopters to invest in vShares and gain after them later on. For several reasons, the developers have decided to release Zurker on a country by country basis. Each country’s Zurker is an independent entity owned by residents of that country. Having users from other countries own shares in other countries would be excessively challenging for technical, administrative, operational, and financial reasons. Note that you can connect and interact normally with members on other versions of Zurker. A member of Zurker UK can subscribe to a member of Zurker India, for example.

Even better, the creators of Zuker say that everything will be open source and they will also have an open book policy. The basis of open-book management is that the information received by employees should not only help them do their jobs effectively, but help them understand how the company is doing as a whole.

It’s an interesting startup and I believe and hope that it will be a hit because it’s the most transparent and honest social network around with open statistics and no ads whatsoever. Everything sounds great and if they really wont put ads in the system, then they deserve all my respect but it will be a hard job.

Below you can see a screenshot of our account. Yeah, it’s pretty empty right now but I created it a few minutes ago so I have a good excuse. :)

Right now you can join the network only if you have an invitation but fortunately you can use my code. So, if you want to be one of the pioneers of Zurker, you can signup using this link: http://www.zurker.eu/i-15750-zsuvcxpyje