June 05, 2006

Scrappy do

Glad tidings we bring today. The Orkut network is growing, yes, it is expanding by Leaps and Bounds. One has exceeded all expectations by managing to assimilate as many as nine Distinct Individuals into said network in but a few weeks. But it was not easy, gentle reader, no. Much time was spent tinkering with the profile. Potential candidates for Friendship were shortlisted and shorter-listed. Many earnest make-frndshp messages were written. Sweat and tears were bahaofied in equal measure.

And a steep, steep learning curve was negotiated. The Orkut Scrap, one discovers, is an unusual form of communication that might appear superficially to resemble the blog comment. However, Orkut etiquette requires the scrappee to respond to a scrap in the scrapper’s scrapbook rather than his own* - this, you would note, stands in contrast to blog etiquette, which requires that the blogger reply right where the comment was made, i.e. in his own commentspace. The matter might be interpreted as an eloquent commentary on how interpersonal dynamics in a networking milieu differ from those in a predominantly creative environment, but one does not generally do eloquent commentary and one sees no reason to make an exception this once.

But ‘tis an empowering experience, this Orkut business. One is evidently connected, through the immediate network, to as many as 19,882,317 souls. Now, gentle reader, one has Contacts. One knows People, yes, People who themselves evidently know People. And having Contacts, you would realise, means that one is now in a position to Get Things Done, that too through Various Means. Yup. One merely has to go to a Relevant Person on this twenty-million-strong network and establish a rapport, perhaps by citing mutual acquaintances. “Hey, one knows Atul D, who knows Francis K, who knows Maniben P, who knows you! Ain’t that just chummy?”

Anyway, one shall now get back to writing pithy scraps in various scrapbooks. Mercy boku.

* It took the entire network several attempts to drill this into the head of the One, but it is well understood now.


27 comments :

Anonymous said...

Is One aware that for every scrap exchanged, this guy called orkut ( the "genius" behind the network) gets paid by orkut. He gets paid more when One adds a contact to the friend's list and even more when One adds a contact from a friend's list to One's own. So there you have it!Scrap away, One provides livelihood by doing so

-S

The Regular Joe said...

You know what? The regular joe knows Maniben P,who knows Francis k,who knows Atul D who knows THE ONE.Aint that chummy?

Casablanca said...

You stole my next blog post idea! You, shall pay! Hrmph.

the One said...

S: Intriguing info. Given the amount of scrapping one has been up to, Mr. Orkut’s folks should be thanking the One for generations to come. ‘Tis nice to bring joy into people’s lives, no?

Regular Joe: *eyes well up* B .. b .. brother!

Casa: Apologies. You may take “Ten Ways to Throttle Kunal Kapoor” instead.

The Regular Joe said...

Now that our kinship has been brought to light,thanks to Orkut, lets talk about sharing the fortune you have inherited.

P.S:Not to forget the iPOD for your brother when you come home.

Shweta said...

Arre! do you mean Kunal Kohli? What's poor K Kapoor ever done?
BTW The entire post swooped past my right ear with a swishy noise.

Casablanca said...

Did you... DID YOU... say throttle Kunal Kapoor? How could you??!!!

Oh. I get it. You are jealous. You ALL are jealous. I know. Hrmph again.

Anonymous said...

Does Maniben have a variant of Mannuben?
Mannuben reads my blog. Which makes us...... fellow bloggers?

=D

Anonymous said...

One 'friend'. One 'scrap'. To which I responded on my page. I am resigned to a life of uncoolness. :(

the One said...

Regular Joe: Fortune .. let's see .. Orkut tells the One today that he "will need to work hard in life". You're welcome to pitch in, of course.

Shweta: Well, him too.

Apologies for the swishy-noised swoop. But you can just think of the post as a sort of abstract piece. And don't pretend you're not familiar with those ;)

Casa: Jealous? Jealous? *derisive laughter*

Dee: It's a small world, after all.

Ph: Not to lose heart. One spent about a year on Orkut with one Friend and no scraps at all before one decided to Take Things Seriously. *he says with an air of superiority*

Casablanca said...

*pokes in the ribs*

My watch tells me, it is time. Time, for a new post.

:p

Anonymous said...

So what's your orkut profile? Search for me there (with this name) and I'll get to see how scrappy you can get :p :)

the One said...

Casa: *wakes up* Hmm? Hmm. Right. Coming up.

Twilight: Oh, very scrappy indeed, one assures you.

the One said...

Casa: Apologies. Soon.

Casablanca said...

Apologies wont do.
You need to wake up, so you have been tagged.
=)

educatedunemployed said...

ROTFL..
Here through Casa's blog.

Anonymous said...

jaago mohan pyare *hopes this is good enough for cacophony*

Anonymous said...

the cacophony is of course to awaken someONE :)

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Does Orkut also have the immortal refrain of "Let us mek frendsip"? Oh joy!

About your "aircon" tribulations - you don't know HOW bad it is unless you wear glasses. As soon as you step out into the real world, they fog up and you're blind.

J.A.P.

Nessa said...

Here's something *the anonymous* wrote on this subject in April:
http://nesshazebrag.blogspot.com/2006/04/warm-sisterly-hugs.html

Tis mostly advanced gyaan :D

the One said...

Casa: A tag? Bring it on, we say.

Educatedunemployed: Welcome, you are. Will post soon, BTW. (One has been saying that for a month now, but this time it’s pucca.)

Dee: And he awakes.

J.A.P.: Aha. One does wear glasses, nice thick ones too, and one entirely forgot about them when writing the aircon post. The fogging-up problem is especially acute in Singapore, you would have noted, with the humidity and all. There’s something to be said for those dorky spectacle-wipers.

Nessa: Goodness. Said post brims with gyaan of the most sophisticated sort - you even address complex topics like Orkut Fans and Orkut Communities with uniform erudition. *takes copious notes*

Teleute said...

Is One so busy scrapping that One posts no more?

And is One on Orkut as The One? Or does One have another name?

the One said...

Teleute: Well, yes. Scrapping is somewhat addictive, one finds. But the blog shall be neglected no more. (One has been saying this for a month or so, but this time it's pucca.)

And one is on Orkut under what one fondly refers to as the Real Name. But that is an idea, you know .. being The One there might prove amusing.

Praveen said...

This "orkut guy" getting paid for every activity is a hoax. Orkut is a project now funded by google and
aims to earn revenues through
advertising. Please refer to
"The Search" by John Battelle for more....

naVee said...

and Orkut is a google employee now ..

the One said...

Praveen: Intriguing. Yes, will look up that book.

naVee: Yes, one remembers reading that someplace ..

Anonymous said...

Heh. Most of my friends unsubscribed from orkut because they were overwhelmed by Brazilian and Indian spam from random folks.

Earlier, I made the mistake of joining the "India Pakistan Friendship Club" which just gave people an easier way to find me. I had to delete all the scraps wholesale, although some of them were amusing in their shorthand (I just looked but couldn't find any lately).

Now you're telling me that folks spend countless hours screening the folks to do this and it's socially encouraged. Wow, that's the biggest culture shock I've had since I got here. I was hesitant to add high school classmates that I'd actually had meaningful conversations with as "friends".

BTW, I'd read this already before I looked you up on orkut, but briefly forgotten about it, so I thought myself clever for inferring you were on there for no good reason.

-QOTJ