I'm In Like With You: eBay for love?

I'm In Like With You is a different kind of dating site. On the site, users spend points to bid for access to people they like. You get these spendable points as you use the site: when you log in, for example, and when you answer simple, seemingly random questions, like "What's your favorite drink?" and "Have you been roller skating since the 8th grade?" that pop up in the lower portion of the window. Unlike most "dating" sites, these questions aren't there to help users make a deep connection--they're just funny factoids. Another way to earn points is to invite people to join (the site is in closed beta now, so those invites are hard to come by) and most importantly, to create a game that people will spend their hard-earned points to win.

When you create a game, you ask a simple question of your own. In my example, I've written "Writing an article on IILYW. What's your favorite part of the site?" In order to answer, users must bid points. At the end of a predetermined amount of time, the creator will choose a winner from the top five highest bidders in the game. And that's one of only two ways you can connect with other users--by bidding enough to be a top player in a game, and then by being chosen by the host of the game. You can also connect with people you've invited to join the system. But unlike most social networking sites, you can't just go around friending people willy-nilly.

Once you've won a game, you can communicate with the host though the site by e-mail or over a protected voice system. This means you can then make calls to your contacts safely, without revealing your digits (or learning the other person's).

I'm In Like With You is a cute way to meet single people in your area, but I know lots of nonsingle folks who play just for the amusement value. It's easy to take this kind of thing personally, though (i.e. "Why is nobody bidding on my game? Curses!"). Be careful not to take it too seriously.

I'm In Like With You may not put Match.com out of business, but it's a great way to kill some time and have a few laughs.