3 Smart Startups Participating in the Evolution of Social Connectivity
April 30, 2012 by Eric Taubert
Chime.In, VYou and Friendthem are working to improve the ways we relate and communicate.
Who have you connected with lately?
Most likely, someone you wouldn’t have had access to just a few short years ago.
Human minds, in collaboration with digital technology, continue to devise creative ways for people to meet, build relationships and communicate with each other. The implications of these connections are gargantuan.
Artistic insight. Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. Scientific breakthroughs. Personal happiness. It’s amazing to witness the magic that happens when people interact...and these days, we’re surrounded by it.
Here are three tech startups working to reduce the the degrees of separation between us all:
Chime.In
Why should you join another social network?
If you’re anything like me...then you’ve slowly come to realize that the old high school friends and relatives who follow you on Facebook aren’t always the best audience for the content and conversations about topics which passionately interest you.
Chime.In, launched in late 2011 by UberMedia, is an online and social mobile network organized around interests.
The engagement levels on Chime.In will blow your mind. Get ready to interact!
Create “chimes” with text, photos, videos, links or polls -- then use Chime.In’s blog-esque tagging functionality to share your “chimes” with targeted lively audiences.
Do you have a penchant for alternative music? Love comic books and superheroes? Actively involved in the blossoming zombie subculture?
Whatever random obsession, idiosyncratic pastime or obscure hobby calls to you -- chances are, you will easily find like-minded individuals on Chime.In ready and waiting to share your enthusiasm.
VYou
What happens when you merge a social Q&A format with ridiculously simple video uploads -- and then sprinkle a little star power over the top?
Find out at VYou - the world’s first social video platform.
Early growth of VYou was fueled by courting celebrities willing to participate in the question and answer process. Courtney Love. Deepak Chopra. Kat Dennings. Kevin Smith. Piers Morgan.
Now that they are no longer in "just-launched" status, VYou is becoming the primary destination for those looking to engage in intimate video self-expression exercises.
Search through the pool of user-submitted “open questions” and find one to answer on video.
What TV show would you like to be stuck in for a month? How does the Internet affect the way you enjoy music? What is your earliest childhood memory? Why should we help people we don’t even know?
VYou has done an admirable job of listening to their userbase and delivering improvements the crowd has asked for...but, most exciting, are the potentially innovative uses of this platform which haven’t been fully considered yet.
Friendthem
It was great meeting you...make sure you friend me on Facebook.
This is the way many a conversation between new acquaintances ends. And it’s all fun and games -- until you realize that there are 3,276 others sharing your new friend’s name on Facebook...and you can’t find the right one to friend.
Another missed connection.
Imagine being offered a way to seamlessly connect on Facebook with the most geographically relevant people surrounding you...
Friendthem isn’t a social network. It’s not a dating website. Instead, it’s a fun and lightweight smartphone app built to optimize the Facebook experience by activating location-based friending functionality.
Whether you’re at a business networking event and want a simple way to connect with a possible strategic partner you just met -- or you’re at a nightclub and you want a safe and friendly way to break the ice with someone who has caught your eye...Friendthem helps you get the job done.
Friendthem immediately offers you a one-touch way to extend real life meetings into the digital arena. Fine-grained privacy solutions offer the safety and personal flexibility options missing from similar apps attempting to establish a toehold in the location-based connectivity sphere.
Which networks, tools, platforms and apps are you using to connect and build relationships with new and interesting people?
Join Pomegranate on Facebook and Twitter to continue the discussion.
-- written by Eric Taubert
