Social Networking Wars

The creation and propagation of a virtual identity in sync with one’s biological identity is a reality that can’t be escaped. Social Networking Websites create a reality more real than real and very few people can afford to live outside it.


Initially rose as the domain of the geeks incepted with the likes of chat services and later sites like Friendster, Hi5, Fropper and the like, today not having an active web profile means social suicide.

The barons of social media become iconic, all geeks who made it big from a garage. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace top the list in popular SNWs.

Orkut - Google’s gift to mankind opened up an abyss of possibilities. The high of seeing old pals, the animated discussions on the forums, posting, snaps, videos, writing testimonials and of course scrapping - delineation and fantasy. It was the perfect antidote to a boring day. Freud would agree! Alas, 7 years down the lane it got little rusty at the edges.

Then Facebook made its dramatic entry and holds the title of the number one social networking website by overtaking MySpace users. The world spoke a new language with micro-blogging, punctuated with emoticons, ellipsis and LOLs. It is fun to be a part of the buzz, and of course it comes at the cost of being judged by hits. No surprise to be at your wits end often.

With it came the issues of Cyber Stalking and Privacy. Divorces, the pink slips and admin issues were ascribed to FB and the gnawing need to update statuses twice an hour. People you are not in touch with also are updated about the little empty nuances of your day because you are commonly connected through contacts four times separated.

San Antonio-based market research firm Pear Analytics analyzed 2,000 tweets (originating from the US and in English) over a 2-week period in August 2009 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM (CST) and separated them into six categories:

Pointless babble — 40%
Conversational — 38%
Pass-along value — 9%
Self-promotion — 6%
Spam — 4%
News — 4%

According to TechCrunch, worldwide monthly page views for MySpace have declined from 47.4 billion a year ago to 38 billion today, a 20 percent drop. In the same period Facebook has grown from 44 billion to 87 billion, a near 100 percent increase.


MySpace has seen a 16 percent year-on-year drop in page views, from 41.6 billion to 34.8 billion. Facebook has grown from 13 billion to 20 billion page views per month.

With all major stockholders’ fear in sharing the pie grew, convergence became the buzzword. Google launched buzz, a space to create profiles and update statuses. It compiled Orkut, Blogger, Youtube, Picasa, Maps, Translate, Gmail & Buzz into a seemingly enticing mix to keep one glued to the browser.


MySpace took profile customisation to a new level which transcended positives and though backed by Google was criticized for skanky bling, losing out on popularity to Facebook – the current sovereign of SNWs. MySpace added the ability to sync your MySpace status updates with Twitter and Facebook so that when you post to MySpace, it auto posts to Facebook. It makes the site seem less selfish when they allow you to sync with their rival and that means greater success overall.

Twitter positioned itself differently and played as a personal interface for those who wished to express. The celebrity bandwagon hopped on and directly interacted with
fans and this brought in most traffic for the prolific micro blogging site. Now integrated into most corporate, celebrity and personal sites with RSS, Twitter stays a sliver ahead.

The huge ego masseur, Facebook, created a continuous self esteem boost with the concept of popularity. Popularity meaning widely liked by one’s peer group members or socially dominant. FB made popularity network centrality, the approach not on merely being liked by others, but by status attributes such as number of friends and the length of the wall and ethnography techniques.

Applications surrounding the concept like Farmville, Mafia Wars etc in association with Zygna games created to echo popularity positively correlated with higher attractiveness, leadership skills, humour, extroversion, academic achievement and success in general. Also, from a corporate view, a lot of applications allow a greater way for businesses to promote themselves thus making FB rule the roost now.

However, the war is yet to be won.

Profile

The word now carries a body of meaning so well defined. A temporary identity, rather a mask. One you adorn when at one place. Your profile at each website create to mirror your identity or to project one you desire to.

Its fun to be a part of the buzz, and of course it comes at the cost of being judged by hits. No surprise to be at your wits end often.

Actually i wore three profiles last year. Began with that of a carefree student lounging away happy and independent on the best campus in the world. Surrounded by friends, caring two hoots about tomorrow or today for that matter. Next came one similar to a nymph..matured too soon to a lecturer, a metamorphosis too fast. The sudden plunge into responsibility, responsibility for minds not too unlike myself, in an institution where only women walked. and as is the case with such societies, norms were woven into the fabric.Rules both said and unsaid permeated the air. Never knowing who's feet i was stamping on was disturbing.

Fun it was, but I couldn't be too comfortable in my skin. I identified more with the crowd i was to tutor, just not too sure that was the way it was meant to be. Uprooted and sown again quick, yet another paradigm shift.

Now am independent. responsible for myself, none else. this is the skin i choose to flaunt. Identify with it or not. too soon to tell

Gal pal gangs :)

Being a girl, the people you have most fun with are often your gal pal gangs..am 22 years and fourteen moths old now...and really miss all my GPGs...


I started to hangout with other girls of my age only after i was 8..so its only then i was introduced to the sinful pleasures of gossip... learnt the myriad expressions of surprise, awe, shock and horror a face can contort into...the juicy tidbits of trivia...all so new..so exciting...the only people who understand and mirror you panorama of feelings..down to the most intricate interest in seemingly the most insignificant detail.

As i moved from school to au lycee to grad studies,post grad studies and now work the topics we discussed didn't change too much nor did the degree of animation or excitement but of course i evolved into a more enlightened soul. Emancipated from ignorance with multiple perspectives, shared over culinary experiments, slumber parties, combined study sessions, huddles at boring parties in whispers and mails, fervent texts and shouts across the dance floor, discreet notes passed halfway around the class and of course hours of chatting on the phone..!

It is a pleasure you mustn't deny yourself. Shopping, dieting(ahem ahem), dressing up, studying(lol), flirting, handling all the messes d'amoureux, gossiping, cooking,cleaning,grooming, fighting, gossip(again), exercise, crying,laughing, imagining the worstEST case scenarios..secret outings without letting your parents/bfs know....;) wooohooo..!! fun..!!!

Now, the time spent with each of these gangs marks a paradigm in my life..hmmm...six gangs later i guess i've grown up :( i no longer have a heterogenous group of gals dealing with a similar set of issues around me...no longer have those murmerd discussions late into the night punctuated with whispers and stifled squeals... those impromptu bouts of shopping,bunking,movies,absconding 4m boring stuff....

in short i miss my gal pal gangs :(

faith is a blessing :)

Those who have faith have a tremendous privelege, one which gives immense strength. It doesn't have to be in a single omnipotent sourse of energy or power..faith in mere mortals...in ideologies..in love...in yourself for that matter...is a feeling hard enough to come by.

At times, i feel jealous of people who have tactile faith. They may sem oblivious to seeming realities. But, their passion is overwhelming :)

Batwoman ;) A video game i don't want to play..!!

Dimmed lights, high resolution graphics, life simulation, real time sound effects amplified to good measure and 10 levels to scale in batwoman 3.0. Its the new game on the block. Haven't heard of it? Whoa! you just don't know what you are missing out on.

Its a single player game and a very engaging one at that. Hours whizz by and you never know.

The player is marooned in a castle,surrounded by a cursed net. The net which is supposed to keep the malignant beasts away has betrayed the princess, secretly granting them access into the castle. The princess has only a bat weapon which destroys all beasts it comes in contact with. She also has a bottle of elixir with which she can recharge her energy from time to time, an information gadget which helps her to be in touch with other players in order to draft effective strategies which also serves to be an entertainment device, and a source of light.Sh also has a duvet, comforter and a pillow which she can use creatively to protect herself.

The point of the game is to kill maximum beasts in a reclining position, while simulating the attempt to salvage some sleep within the stipulated 7 hours. The passage of each level makes the beasts more gruesome and persistent. The elixir and the gadget have limited validity and therfore must be used very judiciously.

This is a game I play every night now. A game i most definitely do not want to play..!!

The mosquitoes are unbearable out here in Chennai. I thought Cochin was infamous for them. Learnt a new lesson. DO NOT TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED. I usually do not like to defame brands outright, but his one just asked for it. Allout they call it. My mind churns out a million better suited names. For the first time in my life mosquitoes have actually robbed me of my precious sleep(ask any of my friends and you will know just how precious sleep is to me). Now this game keeps me engaged :(

It was the time just before giving in my final exams that i got a call from my professor asking me if i would find the job of lecturing intersting. Not even out of college, the idea held some appeal. I wasn't very sure i wanted to become a lecturer, but i was quite sure i didnt want to leave Chennai.

After answering in the affirmative, some doubts began to creep up the back of my head. How could I (never the model student), become a lecturer? Setting question papers, evaluating seminars, correcting answer papers et al..especially draped in a saree ...!!! Lol..!

Intoxication digitalised..!

yup..!! Glad i moved on. Thought of doing this long ago. Don't know what held me back. Now i breathe an air of satisfaction. I put my foot down. Didn't believe i had the strength to do it. But here am i now, this is me :)


Orkut & FB were intoxication digitalised...the high of seein old pals, the animated discussions on the forums, posting, snaps, videos, writing testimonials (lol..!!) and of course scrapping...delineation and fantasy, Perfect antidote from a boring day..Freud would agree..! Alas, almost 5 years on orkut now, there isn't much to do :( Googl'e gift to mankind was getting little rusty at the edges..


Life was getting so monotonous on Orkut & FB... the initial excitement of finding loads of long lost friends soon was relinquished by the more pushing need to constantly update everyone as to what is happening. Not being able to update my status message atleast twice a day gnawed at my conscience all day..!!Of course getting most hits and comments also occupied a major portion of FB mind space B-)...

People i wasn't in touch wid also were updated about the little empty nuances of my day cuz we commonly connected through contacts four times separated..!! that was the first warning sign..hmm..now i've posted too much already to trty to become an enigma :P but i think this is a beginning.. Hasn't someone said the veiled holds more allure than the unveiled?

Jus to make it clear, i dont consider twitter to be in the league of FB & Orkut..or maybe i just want to salvage some of this guilty pleasure B-)

lol..!!