Monday, July 24, 2006

Orkut: The Status Quo Of Today

Now it has been long in the minds of everyone who has been there around in Orkut since quite a while. Isn't there kind of a 'status quo' associated with certain things in Orkut which would define someone to be 'active' or 'popular' or 'famous' on Orkut? I am sure you understand what I mean!

Here are some of the things I think could be branded as the parameters of this 'virtual' status quo in this 'virtual' social community worldwide:

(1) Number of Friends: The bigger your friend list is, the more status you have. It is so because, it reflects how huge loads of friends you have made till this time. And being able to make more friends has a common conception (or misconception?) that the person has an amazing outgoing and amicable personality, a direct indication of being able to stand out in the crowd, more status in the vitual community!

(2) Number of Fans: Perhaps one of best things that has made Orkut so much popular is its notion of being fans of your liked few. Should you have more fans (hilariously preferably of the opposite sex!), it means how you are liked by all around you, more diverse shades in your personality!

(3) Number of Scraps: What does that indicate about Status Quo, I am sure you might be wondering! Well, in my view, I think it potently declares how good (or bad) communicator you are. Of course, should you have loads of scraps in your scrapbook, it also does hint that people around you are concerned/interested about you. Don't you think that these things count towards being a person who can direct, lead, mingle with people? Does not the number of scraps then qualify to be a parameter of Orkut's Status Quo?

(4) Fans-to-Friends Ratio: This is another interesting aspect to look at while analysing this Orkut Status Quo thing. What it defines is a parameter called Orkut Performance! Imagine a person who has just joined Orkut, may be three months back. Her/his fans-to-friends ratio would dictate a farsight into her/his Status Quo. How? See, should this ratio be same as the ratio of another person who has been in Orkut for a while and has decent status on Orkut, with current friend count more than the former, it can be predicted that the former is going to gain more or at least as much popularlity on Orkut as the latter soon in the coming times!

(5) Orkut Album and Profile: They are clear enough indicators. More impressive the profile is, the more expressive you are. The more the tendency towards unusual tastes and variegated photos (especially of your travel in distant lands!), the more does the status creep up!

(6) Testimonials: They are there to testify the varous shades of your personality. People would write their friends' testimonials as though the friend has been the best and the most perfect person in the whole of the Earth! The more of your friends indulge in this act, the more proof does it bear to your acquired status!

(7) Communities: People visiting your profile really 'dig' into your communities. A varied tasteful person would subscribe to so many elite taste oriented communities: it would give the other person a bird's eye view of your overall personality as a whole. The impression the person would conjecture out of that conjures up your status in her/his mind.

There can be many other things also. Some of you might disagree on the whole notion of 'status' associated with a virtual social community; or some of you might be thinking I am crazy about analysing an issue which is dumped with fake profiles, so what is the point in wasting time over surmises of the associated status. But I think these things would always be there. Are not there people with fake identification in your real world?

I firmly believe in the notion of these virtual social networks, not because that is one of my areas of research, but because it is something which I feel has been a boon of technology with an incessant target to hold and knit this disintegrating world together!

7 comments:

candid diary said...

K! I m ur fan, now. I'll b happy 2 see d next post free 4m typo.

Pushan Sikdar said...

wow..
blog made me started thinking..
n now..wll look into my profile n see where do i fit in..hehehehe

Anirban Kar said...

@writer
What abt those friends in the list, who have never met you!
Does by a simple hi-hello with the opposite sex increase your fan list?

Anirban Kar said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Munmun said...

Hey rizu, well, that's the whole point of writing this blog! Didn't you make out that the whole blog was written in a sarcastic sense? To bring out how hollow this kind of a status quo can be misinterpreted to be? You are right, people have folks on their fan list whom they even don't know of! But still, the huge number of fans, adds to their 'accrued' status! That's the comic part of the whole issue!
Although I leave on a positive note, bringing out the good in Orkut, its the way I look at things; and I do believe that Orkut too has many good things about it, despite this hollow air about it! (last para)

Munmun said...

Hey candid diary, thanks for appreciating my writings. I would try to live up to your expectations!

The Daysleeper said...

true observations munmun! somehow I also associate 'orkutting' with being a little jobless, at least in my case I check my profile when im bored at home or work... more i visit more active I am , more scaps i send, more i recieve and so on...