App scans users’ social networks to suggest useful professional connections

Intro is a free app that helps users grow their professional networks, analyzing their social network data in order to introduce them to new business contacts.

Now that so much of the world is up and running on social networks, the next challenge seems to be making the information and connections contained in those networks truly useful. That’s where Intro comes in, with a free app that helps users grow their professional networks by analyzing their social network data in order to introduce them to new business contacts. Users of the Intro app begin by signing in via LinkedIn and indicating which social networks they’re on, including Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter. Then, using information about the user and their contacts on those networks, Intro automatically creates a customized and ranked list of the most relevant new business contacts nearby. Intro also pinpoints the specific connection overlaps users share with others, such as having a LinkedIn contact in common or having attended the same university. Once Intro has identified potentially useful contacts, users can reach out, exchange details securely and chat in real time through the network. The app can also alert users when contacts are nearby, and will even trigger new introductions automatically as the user moves about the city. Freelancers and small businesses seeking collaborators are two niches for which Intro can be particularly useful, its UK-based maker says, as are conference attendees. The app is currently available for iPhone, but versions for Android, Windows and Blackberry are in the works. One to test out for the benefit of your own professional network?