Facebook: Hi There, I don’t Care

Caution 1: First Paragraph talks about Orkut

Photo Courtesy: http://pt.kioskea.net/

Yesterday was the last day of Orkut and many people paid homage to this first (Popularity wise) Social Media Platform by writing a lot of stuff. It did not affect me much. Yes, when I read that they were going to shut it down, I retrieved some old pictures. Like thousands of others, I had almost forgotten about it before Google announced the time of its death. No mixed feeling or any beautiful memory about it because I must confess that I never got any testimonials in my Orkut account nor enough Scraps. I got introduced to Orkut when a pretty Girl (My Friend’s Friend) talked about Scraps, bragged about Testimonials – a couple of them, she was receiving on a daily basis (then), and obviously I just wanted to check her profile and pictures so got on Board. But that didn’t help my case in any manner.

Quickly I realized that Orkut was swarming up with users like me – attention hunters. To look different, I posted my profile picture (clicked through a web-cam), as me peeping through the fingers of my right hand, posed in front, as If I was trying to hide my face. First full-fledged Social Media Endeavor vehemently proved that I was a shameless hypocrite. Well, now I feel silly about that but those were the early days of Social Media and now after all these years – I can tell with conviction that things haven’t changed much as far as new users’ behavior on Social Media is concerned.

Orkut helped loners, wannabes, confused evangelists and many others (60% uncategorized users) to shore up their egos as people mutually exchanged Testimonials and helped each other to feel good. It started with a boom, reached the pinnacle of glory and before we could come up with the terms of inevitable change, it withered away. Other groups or Social Media Platforms like High5 met with the same fate.

There is Not something for everyone on Social Media Platforms nowadays – but yes options are many. And, if it hadn’t been for Facebook, we would have lost in this sea of tools. Monopoly is not an apt word to justify Facebook’s stature as a Social Media Deity so let’s call it The Emperor. I wouldn’t dare to scrutinize FB’s prominence and its importance in our lives, Yes I have more than 150 Friends on Facebook, but I can only call 1 or 2 of them at any time if I need any help or suggestion or whatever.

(Let’s get a bit philosophical now – you can stop reading if you want) Roughly for me, Facebook is just a simple tool to promote or to showcase what you have – it could be anything from good looks, good writing skills, and other lots of goods. We human beings get the best in terms of pure-pleasure when we indulge in comparison. We all lead our lives in such a way that every now and then we compare ourselves with others to feel better, superior and stronger. Obviously, FB is used for that.

In the early days of my Facebooking, I used to get upset when not many people liked my status. And, me and my so-called FB Friends also fought many “Comment-Wars” over burning issues (some of them were not even aware about or never gave a damn about the topic of discussion, they were there just because they wanted to be there to show that they also cared), when one comment was complimented by another and we got so much involved in that duel to prove that who was wittier. In a flurry of comments the real meaning or the purpose would have lost but we all felt good about ourselves. We discussed, abused, and praised celebrities, trends, and typical issues – man, it never felt enough! And, now I just stay away from all that. You know, it is the same feeling – when you have had too much Free ka Daru, which led to puking and ultimately to conscience pangs, which forced you to swear that you would never drink again – even if it would be free Again.

(And Now I am Social Commentator – you can still stop reading!) For Teenagers it is a medium to get that fellow-feeling that world is full of like-minded people when they are going through Hormone-paradigm shift. For bored housewives, it is a simple way to prove that they also exist. For writers or business people, it is just a medium to promote their stuff.

A few things which make this medium so exciting for me now is to see the pictures of newly married couples who post their lovey-dovey images – well they do make you feel that they are truly blessed. Or those who create propaganda. They start with a statement, which is followed up by a carpet-bombing of comments – one after another. I don’t know how much they pay to those SMO Companies to do that but after seeing 20 comments on such posts – I lose interest.

The true importance of Facebook lies in a simple fact that it has established the authority of a notion that nothing goes unnoticed in this world now-a-days. Obviously, like other important things in our lives, it is like a double-edged sword. Amidst those propagandas, promotions, and self-aggrandizement quests, one factor that supports the relevance of this medium is that Facebook is also a potent tool for those who want to reveal something, which deserves to be heard or debated.

Now that Orkut is dead, I would not bother much if Facebook will be dead tomorrow. That’s my honest personal opinion. I find this overall Social Media experience quite Boring now that I can go to an extent to say that it appears “Fake.” But, yes, I will post this blog link on Facebook that so people can read it (hypocrisy couldn’t have been expressed in a better way). Wink…Wink!