Lost and Found: Use Social Media to Locate Missed Connections

We meet new people all the time while going about our day, but sometimes you encounter a special someone who leaves a lasting impression. The problem? You have no idea what his or her name is and how to contact them. Lost and Found is an iPhone app by Dutchmen Group, Inc. that aims to help strangers reconnect via social networking.

Trying to find missed connections is certainly nothing new, and there are plenty of ways to go about trying to find someone you briefly encountered. Lost and Found is a location-based social networking app that is designed to maintain anonymity while searching for another person.

Setting up Lost and Found is a breeze. You do have to create an account using your phone number, but it’s an easy process that’s secure and private. Next, set up a profile with a picture, your name, birthday, email address, and gender. Your name and photo are only shown to someone you message and cannot be viewed publicly by other users.

Once that’s set up, you can browse missed connection listings in your area or post your own. Posting is easy to do, as well, and requires a short title and description of the person you’re looking for. For best results, include important details such as a conversation topic in your title.

Lost and Found is fun to use even if you’re not actively looking for a missed connection. You can anonymously browse listings posted by other users, as well as leave anonymous comments and “like” posts. As I mentioned before, the only time your identity is revealed is if you message someone within the app.

One of the downfalls with an app like Lost and Found is that the stars need to align perfectly in order for you to find your missed connection. Not only does the other person have to be searching for you, as well, but they need to be using the same exact app. I definitely don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but I do recommend posting on other sites such as Craigslist (at your own risk) if you’re seriously searching for someone.

I really like the anonymity factor, as well, but this comes with a drawback. Pretty much anyone can claim they’re your connection, so you should always be incredibly careful when meeting someone. Personally I’d ask questions via chat that only the missed connection would know in order to screen them.

On a more upbeat note, Lost and Found serves its purpose very well and is incredibly easy to use. I recommend using the app in a large city like New York, as you’re much more likely to encounter people. The success rate of finding missed connections in the app will increase as the app gains popularity, though, so be sure to share it with friends if you’re an active user.

Lost and Found requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.

A small administrative fee was paid by the developer for publication of this review, which did not influence the reviewer’s opinion