My first introduction to the world of online social media was through Orkut. I remember sitting in front of a terminal at the Computer Centre in NIT Jamshedpur waiting for the account creation to finish but the internet was excruciatingly slow. The date was March 7, 2005. I remember the date because a friend has been requesting me to join this network so that I could write him a testimonial. In the good old days testimonials were trophies that flashed on people’s profile pages. Fan count was pretty important as well!
When a friend suggested that I use the takeout service offered by Google to download a digital archive of my interactions [my scrapbook – this was before Facebook introduced us to the Wall], I heeded his advice. Within minutes I had 14 MBs of pictures and text sitting on a drive on my laptop. And then I decided to take a peek. Well, it was meant to be a peek but I ended up going through the entire archive.
While I wasn’t particularly nostalgic about the service shutting down, the wave of memories it triggered drowned me in nostalgia. It reminded me of the careless banter that only friends can have. It was also a stark reminder of what “growing up” does to people. It reminded of a time when there were no worries. Only aspirations and hope of a great future. I remember being impatient about that “future” to arrive. Now that I am living that “future”, it doesn’t seem so attractive any more. Hindsight has the benefit of experience. However, there were posts in my scrapbook that brought a big smile on my face. In fact I found one of those so hilarious, that I ended up laughing and people around me [I was in office] were baffled at my behaviour.
All the craziness aside, the posts below remind of innocent times when communication was heart to heart and holding back wasn’t a virtue.
The risk of posting on a public platform!
Interest in my welfare. Only friends can exhibit such concern 🙂
The eternal question!
I was[am] a huge Anna Kournikova fan!
As honest as it can get
Carefree expression
Faithful and well wishing friends 🙂
Trying everything(including spamming friends ) for divine intervention in love 😛
Exam prep!
The beginning of great times!
The precursor to viral posts on social media!
Missing friends…
Brutally honest confession!
With friends like these who needs adversaries!
No discretion being exercised at all
The most primitive form of a news aggregator!
Some things never change!
The original wannabe!
Who said rants were disallowed. That’s the most poetic of all rants ever.
Only a friend can chide like this
I think the one thing that Orkut had, and the more modern social networks lack, is simplicity. Not just simplicity of use but also simplicity of expression and communication. And that was probably one of the greatest reasons of its downfall. Ironic but probably true.
ganda kar diya hai budda tu, purane din yaad dila diya
Bahut achhey..
Thanks Ravi. The testimonials you wrote for me are still extremely dear to me. Read them multiple times. Also have that picture of ours at Varanasi railway station.
Totally love this! 😀
Thanks Ashish! Glad you liked it.