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Last week I attended the Ad jamboree at Jaipur where
I discovered that networking is not a bad word, after all. In fact,
at AdAsia 2003, the fine art of networking was elevated to a new level.
Mirroring the real world, social networking websites are also in news
in the wired world. Two of the fastest growing sites, Friendster
and LinkedIn made news recently as they received venture capital
funding even while we are still figuring out the business model for
social and professional networking websites.
Log on to www.friendster.com
and discover an online community that connects people through networks
of friends for dating or simply making new contacts. You may ask how
is it different from other online dating services. Well, traditional
dating sites search through a large number of anonymous profiles, while
Friendster throws up searches of only your friends and their friends.
Your picture and profile will be shown only to people in your personal
network and you will send and receive messages only from people connected
to you through a series of mutual friends. Christian, 32, single, from
San Francisco, who has been a member since May 2002, says: “We
all know that meeting people out in the wild is a risky proposition.
With Friendster, you meet people through people that you already know
and trust. So it's like having an infinite social network.” This
widening circle of friends currently boasts well over a million members.
I remember having discovered an equally fascinating website in the early
days of Internet, called SixDegrees.com. The site believed
that everybody on the Earth is separated from anyone else by no more
than six degrees of separation, or six friends of friends of friends.
When I recently visited it, it had moved to http://aries.mos.org/sixdegrees.
Check it out and become a part of this unique online experiment.
Punch in www.linkedin.com
in your browser window and learn that ‘your network is bigger
than you think.’ The proposition is simple: ‘find the people
you need through the people you trust.’ LinkedIn is aimed
at professionals. Here, your trusted friends and colleagues can help
put you in touch with the right people. You may even find jobs, locate
employees and close deals faster and more reliably than ever before,
promises the site.
Let’s take a look at another site in the same genre, www.tribe.com.
This is a fascinating community of people who share likeminded interests
ranging from looking for books and old movies to parenting and erotica.
You can connect with your school friends, co-workers and join and create
tribes around your interest. The listings on the website includes events,
parties, soap box, jobs, bikes, roommates, casual encounters, housing,
hot deals, etc.
In a world where the Internet is increasingly fashioning a global village,
social networking websites are helping a wider circle of people come
together faster. Most of these websites offer free admission and the
security and comfort of networking with trusted friends and colleagues.
No wonder, these websites are showcasing the Internet’s scale
and reach by taking interaction to the next level.
Carry on surfing!
strehan@hindustantimes.com
