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An App to Divine Commonalities Between You and Perfect Strangers

Wouldn’t it be a better world if we noticed our commonalities rather than our differences?At ConnectU we think we all have so much in common, but we don’t even know it. We want to change this.


We all have a Google map in our pockets to navigate our way through the world. It is so incredibly precise now. But isn’t it missing something?
In a bit more than 50 years, the world population went from 2.5 billion people to more than 7 billion, and tomorrow we are going to be more than 12 billion. We all travel so much now, and even live in multiple countries or cities throughout our lives.
Of course I love this idea: more people moving around. I think it makes the whole world more fun. But it does create some tension. Sometimes it is because the color of our skin may be different, because our religion may be different, because our appearance may be different.
Wouldn’t it be a better world if we noticed our commonalities rather than our differences?
At ConnectU we think we all have so much in common, but we don’t even know it. We want to change this.
When you think about it, commonalities are essential, because they help build trust. I am sure it's happened to you many times in the past. You talk to somebody you don’t know and then you hit a commonality. It can be as simple as you are both sailors or went to the same university or have friends in common. Suddenly it creates a level of trust that makes the relation better.
So, we created a map where you can instantly see what you have in common with other people, in just one touch and on the go. We focus only on commonalities. We don’t disclose your name and you can’t receive messages from random people. ConnectU Map is not intrusive at all. It is anonymous. It's a tool for your real life.
Say you want to meet a client at a conference, or want to talk to a girl in a bar. ConnectU allows you to quickly check what you have in common to easily break the ice and build a relationship of trust. It doesn’t give you the identity of the client or the girl—just what you have in common.
Or say you want to go out for a drink. You can check the address on ConnectU Map and decide to go to a particular bar because there are more people with many things in common with you in this bar. You can now choose where to go (a bar, restaurant, hotel, etc.) and even where to live (a building, district, city, etc.) based on the people going/living there.
If you choose, ConnectU can introduce you to people we believe you should meet because you have so much in common. In this case, ConnectU simply introduces you through its instant messaging service, just like a friend would introduce you to someone by highlighting what you have in common with each other. It is then up to you whether or not to continue the conversation through ConnectU’s instant messaging service.
ConnectU is currently in open beta testing with more than 100 beta testers and 7,000+ data points in cities like New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, helping us to create a better experience and make our lives more fun. Join us here.\n
Image via (cc) flickr user Diane A. Curran

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