SoberCircle

SoberCircle is a social networking website that offers an exclusive community for recovering addicts and alcoholics to gather and share their experience, strength and hope with others in recovery or looking to find sobriety. As of August 14, 2008, SoberCircle had 30,405 registered members, making it the largest recovery community on the internet.

History

SoberCircle is the concept of Michael Cartwright, a businessman who owns several addiction treatment related businesses and is a self-proclaimed recovering addict. Cartwright assigned web developer Chris Ennis to develop the first version of SoberCircle, which was launched in October 2006. Ennis is commonly known to members as "The Tom of SoberCircle", a reference to Tom Anderson, co-founder and the customer service face of MySpace.

Online 12 Step Meetings

Online 12 Step Meetings have existed for years, but have become a vital part of the success of SoberCircle. Online meetings have been largely a grassroots effort, with members organizing meetings that carry various topics related to recovery and other psychosocial issues. In a given week, SoberCircle hosts up to 30 online meetings for members to give and receive support.

Controversy

Online communities for alcoholics and addicts are often seen by some members of various 12 step groups as breaking anonymity. The principles often found on SoberCircle are slightly different than those found in Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other 12 step fellowships. Many of SoberCircle's members are in one or more of the fellowships and have not had a problem with this conflict.

Another issue that continues to plague many online recovery communities is 13th stepping, which is the term used by most 12 step programs for individuals who use the program to prey on newcomers, usually of the opposite sex. SoberCircle administrators have taken steps to curb these issues, but it is uncertain if their efforts have completely resolved the issue.

Niche Social Network

SoberCircle is often mentioned by the technorati as a niche social network due to its focus on individuals in recovery. Many social networking experts have speculated that niche communities will continue to thrive and succeed over time due to their ability to focus on specific demographics better than larger communities like Myspace and Facebook. SoberCircle was recently number 13 on CNET's 50 most bizarre social networks

New Release

SoberCircle launched its version 2 beta on September 2nd, 2008. This new version was received mixed reviews as many members found the new features difficult to use because of various bugs and features that were not yet functional. An update was released on September 10th, 2008 which fixed many of the issues with the initial beta release. It is expected that SoberCircle 2.0 will replace the original SoberCircle web site when the beta version is stable.

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