Anonymous SNS Blind seeks success in Silicon Valley

South Korean start-up Team Blind has recently launched its anonymous mobile community service Blind in the U.S. market, with hopes of luring young tech-savvy office workers, especially those in Silicon Valley.

“We launched the U.S. service two weeks ago,” said Jung Young-joon, the company’s cofounder and CEO via email. “Starting with LinkedIn, we plan to expand our presence among tech firms.”

The CEO is visiting California to meet local partners and promote the service. According to him, the first Blind community in the U.S. has been made for employees of LinkedIn, the world’s largest business-oriented social network. 

The Blind app, launched in 2013, allows employees of a company or people working in the same sector to post instant messages and communicate anonymously.

The users discuss a wide range of subjects, both serious and trivial, including salary, promotion and unfair treatment from their bosses that are usually not allowed to be openly discussed.

More recently, senior officials or executives are allegedly joining the community anonymously for better communication with juniors.

In Korea, there are some 240 Blind communities for big and smaller companies such LG and Naver. The infamous “nut rage” incident by a Korean Air executive was also known through the company’s Blind board.

Aimed at repeating the success story on its home turf, Team Blind plans to ramp up efforts to elevate its brand awareness in the U.S.

By Kim Young-won wone0102@heraldcorp.com)