ThingsAmongMany

You probably have; it’s been all over the interwebs for the last 36 hours or so. But, it’s freakin’ awesome, so I’m going to post it anyway:

PhotoSketch: Internet Image Montage from tao chen on Vimeo.

We all know and love Craigslist by now (especially here in NYC where it trumps even eBay for finding…anything). And, of course, one of the more humorous aspects of the old Cl is the Missed Connections section. Unfortunately, if you want anything further than a humorous respite from your day, you’re probably relatively SOL on Missed Connections. It’s a jumble of difficult to navigate listings that are poorly described and lack much chance of making any real connection.

That’s what newcomer Blinka.me aims to fix. While they try to bill it as a bit more, Binka.me seems to be - at its heart - a more robust version of Craigslist’s Missed Connections:

blinka.me helps you meet people you’d like to meet again. By sharing your moments on blinka.me you get a second chance to connect.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If Missed Connections had a better shot at working, it’d actually be a pretty cool savior for all of those moments when we can’t stomach up the gumption to speak to the person we’ve been eyeing for the last fifteen minutes of our commute.

The site seems to be in its infancy and is still collecting “moments” from around the world - for example, I was surprised to find that there’s nothing in NYC. But as it grows, it certainly has the potential to start connecting people in ways that only dumb luck might have managed before. It would be nice to see them integrate data from Craigslist as well since (despite its humorous nature) it’s still the de facto dumping ground for these moments. Between it’s own robust system and everything being sucked in from Craiglist, they might well have a winner on their hands.

The ability for technology to aid in the formation of communities is no new thing (”social media” anyone?). But those connections are generally angled at one of two things: 1. connecting - or reconnecting - you to people who you know in real life (a la Facebook, etc.). Or, 2. connecting you to people who share a common interest that you may never meet in real life (ie. Nike+, message boards, etc.). There’s still a bit of grey area when it comes to meeting new people via technology who you intend to spend time with in the non-digital world.

What am I talking about? Well, dating sites come to mind first. Yup, there’s a ton of them out there. And they’re even being used, often by millions of people. But how often do you hear friends talking about being on one? There’s still a bit of a stigma around online dating (for better or worse, you decide).

I’ve come across two sites recently that made me think further about this subject. The first deals directly with the world of online dating. As the name implies, Virtual Dating Assistants, LLC is a company that offers two options for men who are either too wealthy or too lazy to handle their own online dating ventures. For a measly $200/month (plus an $80 startup cost), they’ll manage up to 3 dating sites on your behalf, including hunting down potential “candidates” for your pursal. But if you really want the “007″ treatment, you’ll have to pony up $480/month for their Online Dating Management package (plus the cost of the dating sites they enroll you on). For that price, they’ll do everything up to, and including, arranging the date with your potential “candidate”. My only question is how much they’ll charge me to send someon else all together so that I don’t have to deal with the discomforts of that first date.

On a more positive note, however, I also came across By/Association, a new social experiment/service that’s starting up in NYC and SF (with plans to expand to London and LA). Members must apply to be accepted into the good graces of By/Association.

As a member you receive one monthly introduction to another remarkable person, based on complementary interests, goals, passions, and skills. With each introduction, your network grows — not for short-term gain, but for long-term value.

By/Association isn’t a dating site. It’s more an all-out networking/connections site. Membership is supposedly based on a stringent application process and costs $30/month if you’re selected. While far more low-key (not to mention cheaper) than Virtual Dating Assistants, something about makes it seem more impactful in my mind. It’s more about making a lasting (platonic) connection with someone who might truly interest you. That, to me, is an innovative use of the connectivity offered to us by today’s technology.

Ok, I’m torn. This is either taking things one step too far, or its a reasonably interesting gimmick for a new dating site. So what is Singelringen? Well, how about hearing it from the horse’s mouth…

Singelringen…recognized that although married people and engaged people have rings, there was nothing that allowed single men and women to clearly announce their status. Singelringen is a ring that proudly states “I am single”.

Ok, so a ring made to “declare your singleness” hit the corny chord pretty hard for me. BUT, they did add an interesting twist. Each ring comes engraved with a unique ID number. Once you get your ring, you can take your ID and register it at the Singleringen Community Page. Once you’re registered, you can browse and chat with other Singleringen wearers. So now we’ve got social declaration-cum-dating site all because you dropped $70 on a ring (which is a heck of a lot less than most online dating sites cost…or so I’ve heard). I’m still waiting for them to take it a step further and make the ring glow or heat up when you’re near someone else who’s wearing one.

No word yet on whether they make you send your ring back if you meet someone on their website.