The best daily source for people search news! News on social networking, online dating, and public records.

Reviews | People Search Map | Board

Home | Interviews | Interview with Michael Tanne, Founder and CEO of Wink.com

Interview with Michael Tanne, Founder and CEO of Wink.com

www.okcupid.com

Interview with Michael Tanne, Founder and CEO of Wink.com Wink.com

by Anthony Cohn, People Search News

PSN: What exactly is Wink.com?

MT: Wink People Search is the easiest way to find and connect with people across the Web by searching over 175 million profiles across social networks and on-line communities. People can search for old friends, new friends, business contacts and others by name, location, interests, school, work and other information. Wink also lets users keep track of their friends and manage their online presence by claiming and updating their profile. Located in Mountain View, California, Wink has assembled a talented team from Yahoo, Inktomi, Google, Verity, AdForce, SGI, and Excite. Wink is funded by Greylock Partners, Founders Fund and other angel investors.

PSN: How many members does your web site currently have?

MT: Nearly 100,000 unique visitors each month.

PSN: Have your Wink Tools been well received by users?

MT: According to detailed user studies and feedback, people are enjoying using Wink. People search for old friends or check out someone they are going to meet with. For example, just the other day we received a note from a user saying " I found a long lost friend today that I had not seen since the 8th grade". In addition to the main function of searching, people are also enjoying adding in all their online places and linking to friends, regardless of what site they are on.

www.wink.com

PSN: Any tips for a new user building a Wink.com profile?

MT: To new users, you begin by creating a Wink account, which takes less than a minute. Add a photo and a little about yourself. You can use your address book (Yahoo, Gmail, etc) to see who else you know on Wink or invite them. Then claim whatever sites you want to display - e.g. MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, a blog, etc. (The username/password you used to claim the sites is NOT stored, only used that once to verify that site.) As you browse around add friends and Wink lets you keep up on what they are doing.

PSN: On average, about how many social networking web sites do Wink.com members belong to?

MT: The average is 3 or 4, but there are many users with 10, 20, 30 or more.

PSN: How do you feel about the current state of social networking web sites?

MT: We're moving from the really big general purpose social network to a world where people can pick the social network or networks that most fit their interests and community. The big networks will still be big and popular, but people are doing more than just dressing up their page, adding friends and leaving comments. Some people used to say "social networking isn't for me" and now they are finding a specific community that fits them and finding reasons to participate that suit them.

PSN: Which newer social networking web sites are going to make an impact in the next year?

MT: Well, Facebook is coming on strong as a major social network expanding well beyond students. There are social networks that are for specific groups - moms, pet owners, families, music lovers, investors, gamers, etc. What we'll see is that people will participate in multiple different networks based on their interests and community.

PSN: Where do you see Wink.com in ten years? New technology? More services?

MT: The main advances at Wink for some time to come will be ever improving people search - giving people really great tools for finding others and connecting with them. We search about 200 Million profiles right now. Eventually we will search the entire Web for people. Also, we will provide more interesting ways to connect with and keep in touch with people.

PSN: How can someone get more information on Wink.com?

MT: Visit Wink.com and sign up!

May 30, 2007

This article hasn't been commented yet.