Social networking has become a fad and is catching up at a scorching pace. Everybody is hooked on to one or more social networking sites. It has become a sort of “in” thing to be part of one of these sites. Through these sites it is very convenient to find classmates dating back to your kindergarten days or present working colleagues or classmates.
Of the many social networking sites that are there the ones that I frequent would be “facebook aka FB” and “orkut”. Initially when these social networking sites started gaining popularity among my friends circle I was the last one to join it. I wasn’t that hooked on to the internet so once everybody was way into the whole social networking fever I joined the then famous “hi5” which has completely become obsolete. I have even forgotten my password and user id. But then from there on I have been completely hooked on to these sites. It took me a while to get the hang of “orkut” and even more to get the hang of “FB”. In fact when everybody moved on from “orkut” to “FB” because it was a lot more private, I was just beginning to enjoy “orkut” but then everybody I knew stopped using “orkut” and was more hooked on to “FB” so I had to move on. It was difficult in the beginning. I couldn’t understand a think on “FB” but once I got a hang of it I just can’t stay without checking my “FB” account every two days.
I spend an average of 5 hours sometimes when I am on FB. Time just flies. On both these websites I basically just mail friends, upload my recent pictures and keep in touch with long lost friends. It is total time pass because I get to meet some of my school friends who I haven’t seen after class 10. Sometimes I get to see friends whom I haven’t seen in years because of change of city and profession. I dint really make new friends through these websites because I have more than enough but it is really very addictive. Nowadays when we friends or family go out, I take my camera along just to take picture so that I can put them on FB and share them with my friends and family. Even when we friends go out we want to take nice pictures so in can be put on FB.
The best think about FB is that there are these applications that u can send to friends or receive from them and some of them are totally worth the time spent on it. There are applications like “what colour is your heart” “what kind of a mom will you be” and “what does your birthday say about you”. You can also create your own application and post it so that it can be used by FB users.
In FB I get comments made on my photos and messages written on my wall. It is extremely private where I can choose to allow friends that I accept to view only my partial profile or my full profile. Friends whom I am not close to but have sent me a friend request can only see my partial profile which is a good option the FB gives. Even though I have friends who are in the same place but don’t get the time to talk to them, FB helps me that. With the digital world everybody is hooked on to the internet and everybody I know is on FB so I just send him or her “a poke” which FB offers. By just poking someone it says that “hi. ‘m still around”.
But these sites have their cons too, especially where sharing private info and photos are concerned. If hacked it can be copied and morphed and god alone knows what else can be done with the info that is posted in our profile. As of now I am totally hooked on to FB and I think its great but boredom is a very basic human tendency and I may also get bored of “Facebook”.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I, too, was one of the last of my friends to join social networking groups. I was a member of Facebook when it opened to college students but not any others. When MySpace started gaining popularity I didn't want or feel a need to join. However, I gave in after a while and now I enjoy it. I can keep in touch with friends from grade school through college. A few of my friends who moved away in elementary school found me on MySpace.
I think Facebook's applications are interesting and fun however, I find the newsfeed application a little annoying. I finally figured out how to set that information to private on my profile. I think that Facebook is better in terms of privacy and security.
I actually joined FB first and haven't touched my profile since I started a MySpace profile. Most of my friends are on MySpace and you can do more customization there. It is more "spammy" and I have had my account hacked more than once but I feel like I have invested too much time in maintaining my friends and profile so I can't bail.
I also like the graphic component to it because I can see what my old friends look like, what their wedding pictures look like if I couldn't go and little babies everywhere without the hassles of emailing photos constantly.
I am also a member of LinkedIn for career networking and AdGrad, which is an exclusive UT alum site for those of us that graduated with Advertising degrees. That is how I keep up with who is working where, who is switching companies, and what jobs are opening up all over the US. It's pretty neat.
But I am also very aware of how much time I spend on social networking sites and try to keep it to an average few hours a week. A lot of my friends could probably be considered addicted, but I am too fond of face-to-face interaction and social settings to spend too much time on there. It is an invaluable tool though!
Hibs' comment about people taking pictures just to post them on facebook reminded me of a funny thing my sister said a couple of weeks ago. We were getting ready to go out down town to see my cousin's band play and she couldn't find a thing to wear, so I did the sisterly thing and looked through her closet for some suggestions. I pulled out a really cute outfit and she said, "I can't wear that, I wore it for my birthday." I reminded her that her birthday was a few months ago and that no one at this club was at her birthday party. Then she said, "yeah, but I don't want my facebook pictures to be in the same outfit." WOW! In her world, Facebook photos have become sort of like the paparazzi and she's the star. You can't wear the same thing twice in your facebook pictures, no way! As much as I make fun of my sister for saying that, I do catch myself every once in a while thinking about my facebook wardrobe, just in case anyone is looking. ;)
It's interesting to see what aspects different people like about the different social networks. I like the privacy of Facebook. I hate the spam on Myspace. I might check Myspace once a day, but I usually check Facebook up to three times. I don't like the applications on FB. It's also funny to me to hear people say, "Let's take a picture for Facebook!" or "Myspace pic!"
In most of the these blogs everyone is talking about how "everyone" has gotten on board the social networkign sites. That may somewhat true for certain age groups, but in America, it seems that the older generation has been slow to interact with social networks, if they are online at all. Is this trend also true in India? Do you notice your older relations using these networking sites to stay in touch with friends and family?
In the US, there have been privacy issues with social networking sites in which employers search for their employees' or prospective applicants' profiles and sometimes make hiring or firing decisions based on the content posted on their personal pages.
Many users in the US are very selective of their content or, like myself, have chosen not to include any factual information about themselves in efforts to avoid this.
Is this an issue in India as well?
i dont agree the principles about shifting on to other sites.
hey guys sorry havent blogged since i posted my last post.. this reply is to Kerrie and Chris with respect to if social networking is catchin up in INdia. Yes actually a lot.. the older generation too are very much hooked on to social Networking sites.. its interresting to see how keen and socialy network savvy they have becum.
Post a Comment