ART OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

An addict knows where the other addicts live and is also grossly familiar with the behavioural pattern of others, when he/she is in trance. So one who smokes a lot understands when the fellow smoker will feel the urge for smoking. I have based this interpretation of mine, through various visuals and instances when one of the smokers pulls out a cigarette to offer to his fellow smoker right at the time when the second person thinks that he needed it most and hence never refuses. I being an addict of internet feel that I know a bit or two things about the present addicts and about the person who are on the threshold of being classified as addicts. Of all of my browsing time, I spend close to 60% on various social networking sites, and since I hardly have any updates on regular basis so I spend this time in catching trends and giving an interpretation from them. (After you read every day so many results published in various newspapers on sociological behaviours, you tend to form your interpretations too). Social Networking users show largely similar trends and on the basis of that they could be well classified in few categories, but that would be done later.

THE USERS

I think that there are very few people, who use these social networking sites for keeping in touch. Those who do are not the frequent users. The most frequent users are the one that live by this image of techie, and use the latest site. So they switch on with the switching popularity. So if yesterday, orkut was the place where they could be found, today they are found on facebook, as it's the "in" thing, and they are building there base on twitter, so that this time they are not caught unaware when the next transition arises. These techies also want to portray themselves as witty intellects, who could give you in your face if situation arises. How do they do this, well these sites ask them to fill something about themselves or fill in what you are thinking/or what's on your mind. There had been many times when I had read people's "about me" and wondered, is it the same person whom I know, or is it is alter ego of his, which get alive not by flip of coin as in case of batman but by logging in his account. Many people don't fill up this section rather; write a single statement which portrays them as king of sarcasm. Sample this – "get lost" or "Do something useful to yourself instead of killing time in reading someone else's profile".

FANS

Then there is mad rush for joining in the communities or becoming fan of something or someone. People become fan of virtually everything which is new. So if there is some character which is presently hot, people becomes its fan quickly, to show - Hey dude, I am with time, and I am following him too.

NETWORK STATUS

With facebook's "comment" and "like" options give great opportunity to people to network themselves with the people who have slightly stronger standing at present. So a link, picture or video posted by someone who is slightly high up, bags a lot of comments and "likes". No matter the comments are as lame as "simply awssum" (awesome), which are made to say – hello, I follow you. And people do show they are abreast with latest trends, by using the catch phrases, while commenting, to consolidate hey I read things. All though I have already written a lot about Gtalk status messages in one of my earlier posts, and all those trends follow here too. There are few additions though, there are people who gives in a sneak peek into their daily schedule and do that either to show that they are super busy and no-one can be busier than them (something which can't be true as you change your status message twice or thrice a day shows you have plenty of time to kill or in rare cases you are really super busy and it is the addiction which is pulling you there), or people do give sneak peek into their daily schedule to show that they are super vella (idle) or super cool. Super vella is understandable but cool, well it's a subjective thing and I should not be commenting over it. I am amazed to see people's status message as "good morning everyone", which can be either to show that – hey everyone I had a night-out and hence could change my status message in early hours of the day, or I woke up early today (for changing my status message to wish "good morning", isn't it hilarious)

THE STARTING PHASE

Another reason which actually makes people to start using these sites in the first place is finding someone specific, which in many cases is a particular girl (This interpretation is for boys only as I hardly know anything about how things start amongst girls). So the first few days of making account goes in mad search of people whom you are actually "interested in ". Once you find, you become a cool guy and talk in a way which would put the other person amazed, oh boy, is he the same person whom I knew! And this cool techie dude thing is born. So this is the genesis of everything. As this coolness gets so deep rooted that now you don't care who the recipient is, you behave in same way.

 

Well I can go on and on but looking at the word count, I think I should stop here. I should say that many of these things are direct interpretation of online behaviours of people whom I know, or who are connected to me or the people about whom I get to hear from my friends.