If you’re like me, you probably think the last thing the web needs is another social networking site. Either I don’t have that many friends, or my friends don’t use the interweb for socializing.
The other day, I overheard a conversation about a dating site. Now if there’s one thing the web absolutely doesn’t need, it’s another dating site. But as I listened (eavesdropped) I realized that at least some people aren’t really looking for romantic relationships, so much as friends. (Let’s forget about “friends with benefits” for now. )
I noted that what she was looking for in a “match” was someone with shared hobbies and interests. While that may be a successful tactic for finding a mate (I’m doubtful), it’s a pretty good strategy for finding friends.
Being married, I don’t want to join a dating site. I like my wife just fine, thank you. And as long as I stay away from dating sites, she’ll probably like me as well. But you don’t do everything with your spouse. Mind doesn’t care for programming computers or watching the History Military Channel, and I’m not that into sewing.
While those are mostly solo activities, I wouldn’t mind finding someone interested in building or restoring a wooden boat, or playing a pickup game of frisbee golf. You’d think the internet would be good at helping people with things like that. But either I don’t know how, or maybe I just have obscure interests.
But what if there was a website for people to find other people with obscure hobbies that match their own? Surely there’s someone else in the Seattle Area who’d like to build a sailboat, play a tabletop wargame, or frolf with me? Nothing serious., you know. I’m not looking for a commitment, at least not yet.
That’s the idea of likemi/likeminds. A website where you can find your “match”, in a completely non-romantic way, have a “good time”, and maybe even make friends.
The idea is simple. Use the same tools that dating sites use to try to pair people up, but more explicity. You’re not looking for someone who’s into alternate history civil war renactment geo-cache kiteboarding scavenger hunts to fall in love with them, just someone willing to do it with.
The risk is that some people will be interested in falling in love (or having sex). But in order to keep it out of the gutter (or the clouds), we’ll ban those interests. There’s plenty of sites for that stuff already. This one is about actually doing things. If you want to fall in love, do it on your own time.
An exciting idea is that you might also find out about hobbies that you didn’t know about. People that have similar hobbies might have similar tastes. If you’re a kiteboarder, you might be also be a latent civil war buff or vice versa. If not — no big deal, you might be able to find another friend to get you’re Gettysburg fix.
I’m just looking for people with like minds to hang out with. Someone like me.
Fijiaaron 