Friend Connect

Those who are weary of using Friend Finder will be glad to hear there’s a new application out there: the Friend Connector. 

The raison d’etre behind the Friend Connector sounds a lot like the rationale for setting two friends up on a blind date. “You both hike! You’re both really funny! Come on, you’ll love each other!” And the UI tends to enforce that feeling of playing God that you get from setting your friends up. Users are presented with two columns of photos, each containing all their friends, and thay can click one friend in each column to connect them. Then users select an option from a list of reasons why the two are a perfect match, friendwise (although there’s a “perfect couple” option, too). My personal favorites are “One word: Anime,” and “They have similarly strange hobbies.” I especially like that last one, which basically seems to say “I don’t understand either of you at all. No doubt you’ll hit it off in your weird little ways.”

Actually, the Friend Connector explanation makes an interesting point: helping your friends connect can have tangible results. “They may start a band or a new political party. They may create an actual ‘YouTube killer’ or make the best movie in history.” At last, an application with a purpose beyond nudging, poking, biting or brain-eating other users.

In addition to all this, the UI is extremely user-friendly and attractive. The use of profile pictures in the friend columns is helpful, especially for users with hundreds of friends who can’t necessarily remember exactly who all these people are. And if you attempt to connect to people who are already friends, you get an immediate, cheerful message at the top of the application telling you it isn’t necessary and why.

The Friend Connect is definitely a long-overdue addition to this social networking site. And it’s surely only a matter of time before it’s followed by the Love Connector, the Business Connector, the Star Wars Fanatic Connector and more.

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