Looks like tonight’s theme is social discovery. Israel-based eSnips, a media-centric social network we reviewed over a year ago, is releasing a new feature called “Social DNA” meant to help you discover people similar to yourself.
The idea’s simple and already executed in one form or another by most online dating services. Users fill out quick and “fun” quizzes about a variety of topics. They also list their musical, literary, cinematic, and dietary preferences on the site.
Social DNA then takes these two sources of input and compiles percentages meant to reflect how similar you are to others on different topics. You’ll find out that you and Sally are 64% alike in political beliefs but only 8% alike in musical tastes, etc. The site will also tell you who you match most closely in a particular community or group of friends.
Social DNA is cute enough but seems to confuse the purpose of eSnips even more than it is already confused (is it an online storage service? a social network? a promotional tool?). Plus, the feature doesn’t add much substance; I don’t expect many people will actually get to know each other after discovering that their “social genes” match up well. But who knows; maybe eSnips’ reported four million users will really dig Social DNA.