Dateunknown.com - Reality Show of First MySpace Dates

Okay, this has to be one of my new favorite web sites. Date: Unknown is a reality web series that features the first dates of people who meet online through social networks. That is sheer genius. I have always wondered what people really get from MySpace and Facebook, etc., other than wasting hours and hours of time at work and home. I mean, it didn"t really seem like people networked so much as just chatted with their existing friends and became voyeurs into other people"s lives. Well, okay, you could find old friends on these sites, which is fun. But the beauty of this site is that it puts the whole genre to a new test: can you date someone you "network" with on these sites? Apparently YouTube is interested as well, as they just signed a revenue sharing deal with them. While in the past they only had new material once a week, they will start filming for daily content soon. Good stuff. The show’s unassuming hook-up with YouTube is as notable as the show’s motif. As the story goes, creator Brandon Fletcher flew to California and walked into YouTube’s offices to request a featured spot on the video-sharing site’s home page. Looks like Fletcher got what he wanted and then some. The show is like Blind Date, only more contrived. Date: Unknown has gained a reported 60,000 views. Now Date: Unknown has joined the elite rank of those that have gotten a revenue-sharing deal with YouTube, which includes LG15 and Smosh.

Date: Unknown is a reality web series based in New York City (occasionally we film episodes in different states). We link couples who meet online and document their unscripted first date for our viewers. The site is updated every Monday at 6AM EST with an episode. We are working towards bringing you daily content, so stick around and watch us grow. This show was sparked by the explosion of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, etc. So on May 7th, 2007, Date: Unknown was launched by 20-year-old Brandon Fletcher with the aim of providing a safe, and recreational way to connect people who meet on the Internet.

The idea to take the virtual social networking world and move it into real life is ridiculously clever. I haven"t even seen one episode and I"m already curious to see how these "dates" go. And, the fact that YouTube is going to feature this site on their homepage shows that this site and idea is going to explode (do you know how many millions of people watch YouTube every day?). Keep watching for more updates and exciting evolutions to this genius idea.

Are these dates real or contrived? I mean, with a camera, how real can a date be? Will this just turn into a forum for actors to get discovered, like Elimidate? What are the plans to improve the format with the new YouTube agreement, other than having daily content? Do they have follow up on any of these first dates to let the viewers get invested in some of the couples?