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Go be ‘social’ and reach out to people – that’s the mantra every netizen follows nowadays. But on the traditional <keyword id="6354632" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-media">social media</keyword>, you are not meeting <keyword id="119302" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="strangers">strangers</keyword> per se as we do in prep schools. You are not among a bunch of strangers, thrown together for a common purpose, as it happens in school or workplace. Instead, you scan profiles and make a conscious decision before connecting. But that kind of approach actually keeps you confined within an extended circle, curated by your requirements and parameters. So chances are you are not reaching out to interesting strangers – <keyword id="1322697" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="like-minded-people">like-minded people</keyword> with whom you can share your thoughts and ideas. 
 In an ideal situation, your ideas, and not who you are, should generate <keyword id="1991589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Networking-interests">networking interests</keyword>. And when that happens, strangers do find it worthwhile to connect with each other. The shared passion for a particular interest often brings people together and a Mumbai-based start-up has just built an all-new <keyword id="6354615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-network">social network</keyword> around that concept. 
 <keyword id="1991577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Treetins-com">Treetins.com</keyword> promotes <keyword id="1991606" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Positive-interactions-between-strangers">positive interactions between strangers</keyword> while users can remain completely anonymous. The platform is quite unique, an ingenious mix of <keyword id="279713" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tumblr">Tumblr</keyword> and <keyword id="135163" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="chatroulette">Chatroulette</keyword> (minus the audio and the webcam), which allows you to post all sorts of content, based on which people may decide to connect with you. <keyword id="725308" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="anonymity">Anonymity</keyword> is strictly maintained here, not only to ensure enhanced security but also to provide users with the kind of comfort level people look forward to when <keyword id="1991616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Conversing-with-strangers">conversing with strangers</keyword>. Feeling curious? Here is a snapshot that captures the start-up's vision and viability. 
 
Who runs Treetins.com (https://treetins.com/): A team of four including <keyword id="36740" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="founder">founder</keyword> <keyword id="1991580" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Prince-Jacob-Thomas">Prince Jacob Thomas</keyword> and three <keyword id="382595" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="co-founders">co-founders</keyword> – <keyword id="1991582" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Aditya-Dhull">Aditya Dhull</keyword>, <keyword id="1991579" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mohit-Narwal">Mohit Narwal</keyword> and <keyword id="1991578" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chandy-Thomas">Chandy Thomas</keyword>. Prince, Aditya and Mohit have done MBA in Marketing from Christ University, <keyword id="6355033" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bangalore">Bangalore</keyword>. A former advertising professional, Prince had worked with Ogilvy and Creativeland Asia while Aditya had also been with Creativeland Asia. Prior to starting up, Mohit was with Dun &amp; Bradstreet and One97 Communications. Chandy holds a PG diploma in PR and Corporate Communications from Xavier Institute of Communications, <keyword id="6358070" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mumbai">Mumbai</keyword>, and earlier worked with organisations such as NDTV and Perfect Relations. Mumbai-based Treetins is the maiden venture of the foursome, all in their twenties. The company was started in August 2013, but the <keyword id="766262" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="social-networking-platform">social networking platform</keyword> Treetins.com came live only in December. 
 
What inspired the venture: The fact that the <keyword id="55618" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="World-Wide-Web">World Wide Web</keyword>, despite its immense potential, is not being leveraged to connect people who are totally outside each other’s orbit. According to Prince, people are mostly connected to their friends, family, colleagues or an extended circle. But there is no medium that connects people with complete strangers, in a free and friendly manner. 
 Another trigger is the immense potential when one meets new people and connects over a <keyword id="1991587" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Common-interest">common interest</keyword> (the name Treetins is an anagram of the word ‘interest’). “Somewhere, we all started off as strangers, but are now living in a closed environment and not realising that meeting someone new could lead to immense possibilities,” says Chandy. “You can meet a life partner, a business partner or start a music band or form a group working for a cause. The Bombay Underground is a perfect example of this,” he adds. 
 
What’s the pitch: It’s a social networking space on the Web that lets you meet like-minded people, outside your existing social circles, without the stigma attached to meeting strangers. Treetins is the first <keyword id="6541953" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-platform">online platform</keyword> that lets you ‘bump’ into people, solely based on what you express or how you <keyword id="53203" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Converse">converse</keyword>, rather than who you are. Anybody who joins Treetins starts <keyword id="1991624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Anonymously">anonymously</keyword> and that makes the whole experience more <keyword id="38894" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="secure">secure</keyword> and satisfactory. 
 
How it works: The social platform is still in beta, but when we checked, all the functionalities were working fine. Anyone can register and log in to Treetins.com anonymously, using <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>, <keyword id="6354616" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> or e-mail ID. Once you are there, just click the ‘express’ tab and start sharing loads of exciting things – right from your opinion and blog posts to <keyword id="39862" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Images">images</keyword>, <keyword id="144248" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Videos">videos</keyword> and links. The content goes up on the Treetins page as <keyword id="30943" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Expression">expression</keyword> by a stranger, along with your location. If another member finds it interesting, he/she may want to ‘bump into’ you and start a conversation. To do so, the person will have to click the tab ‘converse’ and type his own comment regarding your post. That comment also goes to the writer as an expression from a stranger. If you accept it and choose to connect with the person, he will be added to your ‘bench’ and only then identities will be revealed. However, you don’t get to know much even then – just the stranger’s name since location is revealed by default. You can also delete someone from your bench but once that’s done, you can’t ‘undo’ it and add the person back. 
 
You, too, can browse through other ‘expressions’ up on the site and try to ‘connect’ with strangers in a similar manner. There is also a ‘share’ option (via Facebook and Twitter) to repost interesting content. Moreover, you can ‘invite’ people to Treetins but unlike other social media, invitees don’t get added to your ‘bench’ by default and the entire process has to be followed if you want to converse with them. 
 
Claim to fame: Treetins has introduced a secure and stranger-friendly platform for people to connect seamlessly and share their interests. The concept itself is unique and has the potential to go viral in an environment frequently plagued by online stalking, hacking and identity theft. 
 
Show me the money: The start-up is currently <keyword id="1991631" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bootstrapped">bootstrapped</keyword> and still fine-tuning its <keyword id="234340" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="revenue-model">revenue model</keyword>. The team does not want to divulge specific details at this point, but the firm is not looking at <keyword id="1049940" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ad-revenues">ad revenues</keyword> as its main source of earning (does it remind you of WhatsApp). According to the co-founders, new features are being added to the social platform and the company may soon adopt a <keyword id="1991632" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freemium-model">freemium model</keyword>. Other online initiatives may include collaborative idea sharing and engaging the college crowd. Gaining <keyword id="900658" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="traction">traction</keyword> is another crucial area and Treetins is targeting the whole chunk of <keyword id="1991634" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-media-users-worldwide">social media users worldwide</keyword> – some 1.5 billion-plus people, to be precise. 
 Interestingly, Treetins has taken its ‘<keyword id="1991605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Connect-with-strangers">connect with strangers</keyword>’ concept offline and launched initiatives such as ‘Hi Stranger’ photo project and another one called <keyword id="1991635" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Share-Your-Table">Share Your Table</keyword>, run in partnership with the <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword>, <keyword id="20254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="cafes">cafes</keyword> and <keyword id="14564" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="pubs">pubs</keyword> in Mumbai. “It’s all about sharing your table space with a stranger in a crowded eatery,” details Aditya. “Most of the times, we don’t occupy the entire table, but don’t feel comfortable either if a stranger shares the space. We are endeavouring to change that and convince people about <keyword id="1991637" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Table-sharing">table sharing</keyword>. In that way, there will be optimum utilisation of seating capacity, better <keyword id="169305" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="customer-service">customer service</keyword> and <keyword id="1991641" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shorter-queues">shorter queues</keyword> outside the <keyword id="662020" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="food-joints">food joints</keyword>. Plus, you get to make new friends and that is no small deal.” The programme is now active in 35 restaurants across Mumbai and the company is eyeing further expansion as it is getting loads of requests, both from restaurateurs and customers. By March 2014, Share Your Table may kick off in other cities like Bangalore and <keyword id="2094" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pune">Pune</keyword>, leading to more <keyword id="6399165" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="revenue-generation">revenue generation</keyword>. 
 “We will be working on our <keyword id="19705" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Products">products</keyword>, <keyword id="445843" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="customer-base">customer base</keyword> and <keyword id="232730" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="business-model">business model</keyword> till March next year and will approach the <keyword id="6359051" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="investors">investors</keyword> for a <keyword id="1974977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Seed-round">seed round</keyword> when these things are in place,” says Chandy. 
 
Biggest challenge: Introducing a totally new concept, especially something that people may not accept instantly, is always challenging. “We must create awareness regarding the manifold benefits such a network can bring you,” concludes Chandy.

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