Quechup is a British online community that offers email, blogs, podcasting and other features in one interface. It is also aggressively viral.

I got an invite from a trusted source and set up an account. The next day, several questions arrived in my inbox from people I'd apparently 'invited' to Quechup. What happened, I don't know, and was quite sure I'd not intentionally invited anyone. The interface did it.

In addition to this piece of rampant message spawning, an email from a 27-year-old secretary in England arrived. The email said I had a message from her, and included a small dinkus (see enlarged pic here). Naturally, intrigued, I clicked to accept the friend invite. I also clicked to read the message she'd sent me.


This is where Quechup reveals its true nature. Unlike Facebook, which is free, to view messages you must subscribe. It costs about 4 euros per month to do this.

So, here is me: a 45-year-old single man with no regular girlfriend and I suddenly get a message from a 27-year old, single woman who likes to go on holidays and is interested in fun and dating, among other things. What should I do????

I'm choosing to ignore it. The suggestive pose Julies holds in the photo, the easy-going tone of the blog posts -- two since the beginning of the year -- and the out-of-the-blue atmosphere it is accompanied by, means I'm not going to fall for the ruse. I'm keeping my 4 euros a month in the bank.