It's ... Yet Another Friend-of-a-Friend web site! Yay!

This system officially launched on October 15, and now the operator, Emode, has purchased extensive advertising on nytimes.com to draw visitors to the site.

From the press release: Emode today introduced the Tickle Social Network, the first social networking product to deliver deep user profiles that go beyond basic demographic data to include group affiliations, career history and personality traits. The Tickle Social Network provides Emode's 15 million members with targeted introductions to new friends, romantic partners and business contacts, as well as qualified referrals to products and services. The Tickle Social Network is available immediately in a free, preview release.