Just when you thought it was safe to go back online and not be invited to join obscure social network sites - be blinking warned.
Blinka is here.
Top marks for an innovative and creative bit of press-release writing for Blinka.
"Look," says the girl at the bar. "If you give me that business card, I'll lose it in the bottom of my bag and it will get covered in lipstick, old liquorice all-sorts and fluff.
"You should just blinka.me instead."
It got the attention of Mack-line immediately.
The new website www.blinka.me is touted as a place where people can reconnect and interact with the people they would like to reconnect and interact with.
Really? Apparently, the site gives you a second chance to connect with someone in case you were caught off guard the first time and have lost sleep about the fact that you may have come across as an idiot, loser or just uninterested.
Blinka.me start-up chief executive Duncan Shand says the site will help people make real-world connections.
"There are plenty of social networking sites to help you maintain your relationships online, but blinka.me is focused on helping people reconnect with the interesting people that are around us every day."
So, how does blinka.me work? Apparently, if you log your moments on blinka.me, the site will match them to others from the same time and place.
That could be meeting the cute guy or girl from the bar, sharing concert memories, finding your parents (didn't know they were lost) or a chance to hook up with "the guy you pashed on the Contiki tour and tell him about the daughter he never knew he had".
The last one is sure to be a winner in the humble opinion of Mack-line.
There is a friend of Mack-line residing in Christchurch who keeps uploading photos to a site which will remain unnamed in case someone else starts this odious process.
Each couple of days, I get invited to look at B's photos, but when you click on the link (I admit I did this a couple of times), you get asked lots of really personal questions by the site and prompted to join.
Trying to list the site as spam has failed miserably.
The emails continue and I still cannot see the photos.
The friend swears black and blue he has taken me off the list.
Yeah right.
Back to blinka.me.
Can you imagine the conversation about the long-ago Contiki trip.
"Hey, remember me? What a blast that trip through Europe was.
"Party Central.
"Oh, by the way, do you remember the night by the Seine? Here is a picture of your daughter.
"She has your eyes."
Mack-line is going to sign into blinka.me using a Facebook account.
There are some "precious moments" which will be listed where they took place.
If all goes to plan, a match will be made and an email notification will be sent.
Mr Shand says blinka.me gives you control over the communication.
You can chat with new people without sharing email addresses or phone numbers and screen people before you meet them again.
There will be definitely some being screened from Mack-line although it might just be fun to find out what happened to . . .
