The popularity of social networking sites has risen dramatically in recent times, to the point where membership of at least one social network site is as common as owning a mobile phone. And the popularity and functionality of such sites can only continue to improve, with the ability to search for both new and old friends quickly becoming commonplace for internet users.As a result, people-powered search engine Wink and people-search/social networking site Reunion.com have recently merged with the intention of launching a new website in early 2009, under a single brand name. It is expected that the new site will allow users to search across a total of 700 million user profiles.
At present, both sites provide the same function in that they allow you to search for people you may know and so allow you to stay in touch with people with whom you may have lost contact. Search facilities can include giving users the opportunity to find old friends, classmates, work colleagues and family members online.
Reunion.com currently charges its members for access to advanced features, which include being able to view which users have searched for your profile. To date, Reunion.com claims to have 50 million registered members, and report that they raised $25 million last year.
Wink originally began as a people-powered search engine in 2005 before reinventing itself to become people-search orientated in 2006. Wink operates by allowing users to search for profiles simultaneously across social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Bebo to name but a few.
In addition, to reinforce the success of the site, it has been reported that there are over 500 million user profiles currently in its search index. However, a number of flaws surround its site at present; some profile pages are no longer functioning, and on occasion it returns zero results.
Social network profile aggregators, like the site being planned by Wink and Reunion.com, allow the user to search for their own online identities across many social networking sites and blogs. But to ensure that the overall accuracy of search results is effective, the probability of useless results being returned will need to be improved.
This will not be the first time that Wink and Reunion.com have worked together, either. In 2007, the two sites struck an agreement so that Reunion.com members could have access to the people search facility provided by Wink. On this basis, their new site looks set to succeed, and could provide both sites with a firmer foothold in the increasingly crowded social networking market.
