April 30, 2006

Bluedating

londontube.gif Aljazeera reports on "Bluedating", or strangers on trains sending each other messages via bluetooth in order to possibly meet up. Al Jazzera reporter, Sakhr al-Makhadhi, interviews some people and gives it a shot.

"Self-confessed bluedating-queen Mammy Kufuor says it is a no-risk way of finding a partner: "It's quite a safe way to meet people, you can normally see them straight away, so if you don’t like them, there’s no damage done." ... she says it is a growing phenomenon. "I've had quite a few people bluetooth me without me bluetoothing them, all over the country," says the 22-year old. "It's spreading quite quickly, I’m not sure where it started or who started it, but it's one of those word-of-mouth things.

The BBC among many other papers reported on "Bluetoothing in 2004. It was then revealed as a hoax. But news from more credible sources show evidence of real usage of bluetooth for this purpose in (generally concurred) public places.

And it's definitely common practive in some parts of the word:

-- Custodians of morality must reckon with cellphones (Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states)

-- Phone technology aids UAE dating

-- Mobile Phone Is Matchmaker in Singapore

emily | 5:26 PM | SMS Dating | Add this this entry to your del.icio.us bookmarks. Digg This Technorati search results for this Entry
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