Hm..Let’s take a glance back. Not so far back. 6 years ago. When webpage was all HTML and ASP based. Nailing the script was a pain in the arse, setting a blog would be cumbersome, and friendster as I remembered, was not even in beta mode yet. Oh, but we had IRC, ICQ, and all sorta stuffs. But was there any wall containing our most cutest pose, stranding aside our ‘living the moment’ status? Our confession of ‘today’s achievement’, all-books-I’d-read, and not to forget fluffy virtual pets incessantly craving for your caress? Testimonial posts.. They say it’s social networking. But let’s move more backward...just 5 years more backward. When internet’s was not that hip. Should anyone voluntarily posted their their cutest photo, have them glued to an electricity pole or school public magazine or walls, along with their hobby, relationship status, not to mention the flirty letters ....unless you’re running your campaign for a presidency seat –or, desperately seeking partner in life in matchmaking column, I suppose in more chances the police would certainly got involved, wouldn’t they?!. =p

But now! Dozens of so they called ‘social networking’ channels for all queerness in life : MySpace, LinkedIn, Friendster and the hippiest nowadays, Facebook. Not to mention other function-structured specific ones as Goodreads, Flickr, Flixster, Tabblo, del.i.ci.ous... And in case you haven’t got enough friends you might then try others hi5 or Windmill, or...oh can’t just remembered those all I’d signed up. Pfyyuuhh!!!

Well, Yes, I’m in all of those, and more the more I got engaged, sorry friend. It’s hard to say this to a non-meta friend, I suppose, but you, have taken too much of my time! The poking, the hugging, the gift browsing...It's truly fun....but, still!...Not to mention the bandwidth mostly unbearable by internet-cafes or dial up speed internet connections. Now, considered poking and hugging meta-friends are ritual, for just poking it might take 20 seconds. Oh. et...c'est pas a moi...but most my friends have endless app already installed hence it'd take minutes (with sheer luck to have all downloaded) just to open their page!

Social Networking channels.....Well, does that means that the most people having friends on the so-called virtual space, the most popular the person? In some cases it’s even aggravated by a ‘Popularity contest’ apps, supposedly tracked by statistics on people coming by. Hm. Yep, that might be a good paramater afterall. I got great times finding my old mates and finding people in same interests allrite. But is it all about engaging friends and solely social networking? Certainly not... It’s now all about Self-Branding!

Is it that you want to take comments on others, or give charm bracelet as gifts to your girlfriends, or having an Octoberfest...what-de...No. Better admit it. It’s mostly about you, yourself. =p Which I may interpret as me, I myself and mine. Vote me, pinch me, hug me, know me, say how interesting I am. Owh. It’s no more subtle. We put everything on the wall. It’s amazing of how I could know more about you than I do myself. So long self-depreciation and modesty! There’d be no king and queen. We are all king and queens!

If we’re to name ourself a generation, hm. Generation X’s taken back in the spice girls day, Generation Y was taken all the same. then, Generation ‘I’ would be my best choice of all. Why “I”? But why not? Narcissism is the new wave, surged, washed and soaked us all over the continents!!

Anyway. I’m not saying it’s bad. It’s a phenomenon leading to other advantages. Imagine what we could do with such network and –if not said ‘easy’—tight bondness – pledge a campaign and easily aroung 4000++ people would rush voting for; held an activist movement –find those concern much about would be a click away; desperately missing someone without wanting to loose face calling over—simply send a gift! How it’s all about text and emoticon nowadays! Anyway, narcissm ain't at all bad... the more we love ourself—in any case the essential of narcissism—the more then we would love our surrounding, ain’t it?!

Adding other advantage...blending those slow social network w/ the faster ones (i.e. sms, irc, ym, etc) would make another Conversational Behaviour....at least would make us busy two or three years ahead...

See, the key is moderation and balance, as always. Thus I can tell that no way in the future virtual world would supersede real life.

The "slow" and "fast" social networks are actually "asynchronous" and
"synchronous", and thus not competing with, but complementing each other. And
you need both in the world we're about to enter.

***

Hmm...can’t wait the day when : the ‘poke’ application is installed in every mobile phones now all blue-toothed. Guess it’s not a great leap of technology to get to that part, afterall...it's only a matter of when the price of mobile internet would fall downright.... imagine...

A girl standing in the middle of a town square or a train station or an airport or a restaurant, holding her mobile and make sure her mobile brand arouse evidently, so that it'd be easily spotted— she stand tall...take a glance around......

Ah! cute guy 3 o’clock, 9 metres away—phone type...er...

she turn on the bluetooth...—searching mobile

....gotcha!----hmm....what about... poke! ......pinch! ................hug!

*millo, yahoo answers

Labels: thought