Genuine Relationships — The First of The “Things Wink Will Never Compromise On”

At this point in human history, it goes without saying that we are social beings. The way we form relationships, no matter the barriers that we face, is proof enough, at least for the purposes of this article, that we find value in relationships and, even more, given their everywhereness, we consider them indispensable to life.

For us, it is quite remarkable to see the ways people connect to each other; it is just as remarkable to witness the increased significance of social networking in creating and developing relationships.

We couldn’t help but also see that, after more than a decade of using social networks, we have become more and more anti-social, to such an extent that we prefer virtual connections rather than face to face interactions. What really got us thinking was that, in some cases, this goes as far as making us unable to interact face to face.

Before you let your thoughts go wild, we want to make it crystal clear that we are not against social networking. We are confident that they can be used in positive and enriching ways; the example on everyone’s mind is keeping in touch with relatives or friends at a distance or rediscovering relationships from middle school. What we are trying to say is that, when used poorly, and this happens more than you can imagine, social networks favor anti-social behaviors.

Who would have thought that networks intended to encourage and sustain social interaction would end up impeding it? Food for thought.

Sure, we have hundreds and thousands of ‘friends’ on social platforms. Is it really that we have that many friends or is it that the word ‘friend’ has changed its meaning? And if the latter, is that number still relevant to my social life?

We are not making a case for giving up all social networks. It is not the point. The point is that it is the time to make some room for face to face connections too. To go back to the way we used to connect before we started using virtual interactions. It might be good for us.

We think it would be a good change to choose to meet with a person for once, rather than connecting online. Especially since this is not always possible with everyone. But, if you can do it with someone, why shy away?

This is the whole point of Wink, for people to spend time together, create and deepen their relationships, share experiences and doing it all over again. And again. And again. And before you know it, you have a friend. In the before-social-networks-existed sense.

There is something to meeting face to face. It could be that you share the same space, that you feel the touch of the other person, that you smell their scent, that you see their micro-expressions, or that you simply see them. Or not. Whatever it is, virtual connections don’t have it.

Investing in meaningful relationships is what we want to encourage in everyone. Ourselves included. We thought to do it through Wink, the app that will nudge you to get together with the people you care most about.

Does this sounds like something you care about too? You can join our efforts by pre-registering at wink.social and in this way helping us bring Wink to you and everyone.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (in moderation) to be in the know.

We’re in this together,

The Team Powering Wink