Some people simply can’t keep a secret. Neither can some credit cards, once they’ve been signed up for Blippy.

Blippy is Twitter for plastic. It’s an online social networking website, linked to one’s credit cards, which thereafter displays the details of one’s shopping habits for all your online “friends” to note and discuss. For those who love retail therapy and live to spend, it’s a brilliant idea, an instant mass communication inviting others to share your fun. For the rest of us, it’s an oddity, at best.

The way it works: People open an account, then link that account to their credit cards. After that, whenever the credit card is used for a transaction, a “blip” of that purchase will appear on all your friends’ computer screens. (A blip is similar to a Twitter “tweet,” for those who don’t know. It’s a brief statement, telling the world what you’re doing.) Online users can then comment on your purchases.

If you routinely stop at the corner coffee shop for a mega mocha and muffin, be warned: no one’s going to believe you’re counting calories. If you secretly read trash—or frequent trashy motels, for whatever reason—Blippy would not be a good idea. (Specific transactions can be marked as private and not to be shared. But one must remember to flag it.)

Blippy went into a public beta today and is available for all, the product of a $1.6 million capital raise from some large-name investors. Perhaps not surprisingly, Evan Williams, the CEO of Twitter, is among them.

Purchases made from most merchants merely show up on one’s account as an entry, but certain others, including iTunes and Amazon, post the specifics of each purchase.

Source: tech.blorge.com