Orkut vs. Facebook

So the war is on! Days back I just pondered about how social networking sites such as Orkut and Facebook have had their TRPs raising up so high, especially within us, the Indians. Not that Facebook is both, famous in the West as in the East and Orkut isn’t, but Orkut has its own regions of conquer, territories of users and wonderful elements to exhibit.

Orki and Facbi, they are just like two buddies from convent school or probably college, popular in their own way with their unique facets that attract all. Started off as plain, simple average students who were liked by all but then eventually had their own groups, neutral acquaintances and plus points. Times have changed. These students are no longer those plain, average pupils who were same in many ways and different in some. They now have their territories, groups have grown, popular in their own way, regions to conquer along with hearts and all set to capture the world’s attention using strategies from every possible vertical.

These friends are no longer buddies but competitors. Today, if you young, (as we call it, ‘the teens’...), add to that - you are tech-savvy (oh! C’mon, who aren’t these days? If not, maybe you need to move on!), and is an IT professional, student, housewife, grandpa, wife, mother, advertising professional, doctor, actor, teacher, chef or even idle at home, it’s so definite that you do run an account on social networking websites. (Hey, you do have a blog and do read blogs but don’t have a social networking account, buddy c’mon; buckle up and move on… create an account today!) Now, it can be MySpace.com, Twitter, Orkut, Facebook and so on. If a blogger, then definitely, you should be having an account with 20 something bloggers, Blogger.com, Blogadda, Technorati, Indiblogger and so on.

And if you an ethnic, patriotic Indian, a techie especially, you will see him or her bound to have an account with Orkut or Facebook and a blog with Indiblogger kind of blog networks. Let’s now walk back a little. Who are these top horns? Speaking from an Indian perspective, as for us, Orkut and Facebook are considered to be top horns in the world of social networking, here in India, apart from the blogging websites that are available for us to meet and discuss about global affairs. Orkut, handled by Google was triggered into action on January 2004, all thanks to Orkut Büyükkökten, a US based Turkish employee who proved to be a reason for the evolution of social networking by employing fun or game based applications. So what is Orkut for those who don’t know? It is a platform, a website that allows you to meet new pals, keep in touch with old pals, share photos or videos with your friends amidst high secured connections, enabling the creation of community forums of which users can be a part of. Not that popular on an international level, but tries to entice users at every opportunity that they have in hand. Orkut had a problem in the beginning, being that it was not secured to a level where people could share their personal tidbits, but later on owing to many critical and serious reasons (..which I refuse to mention here, coz’ I care for my security too!!!), it got bounded with high-end security features. Hmm… for instance initially you could visit anyone’s profile, view anyone’s photos or even right-click and store/save some strangers’ snaps. All this has been undone now! Good for you, Orki…

Let’s now move over to Facbi, (whom I lovably call…), my personal favorite social networking site (not that, I don’t hold an Orkut account but….), FACEBOOK! Its origin is in fact quite exciting. A few years back the line, somewhere in February 2004, a website strictly dedicated for the students of Harvard University, slowly began expanding its database of users to students from other global universities. Not that Orkut has any specifications on the kind of users joining them, but Facebook has a simpler process to sign up and that’s cool! It’s got all the features that Orkut has and even more. But the best part about Facebook is its feature of photo-sharing with real good tactics of security, (which by the way has been adapted by Orkut as of now…), commenting on snaps, tagging pals on snaps and so on. Orkut, till recent times did not have the kind of security that Facbi exhibited. Of course, change happens over time! I have pals who ask me on Orkut, “Why are you not seen around these days on Orki? Why no snaps?” (I had to take them all off, a couple of months back owing to the insecurity features available on Orkut. I guess things have changed now but perhaps I find it easier to upload my snaps on Facebook, nowadays!) And I have pals on Facebook also asking me “Hey, why so active on Facebook? Why not Orkut? I know why, Facebook is fun right, but it's so confusing to use buddy, Orkut is simpler." 

I guess people are more comfortable or at least, have been most comfortable with Orkut, as the GUI (Graphic User Interface), basically, the look and feel is user-friendly, its' easy to navigate, applications are minimal and it focuses more on simply scrapping friends, making friends and maybe to an extent, sharing photos/videos. But there are groups of people who find Facebook more innovative to use than Orkut coz’ it employs numerous applications, fun quizzes to play with, commenting on statuses and stuff, (which by the way, does not happen in Orkut...) and majorly also keeping track of what other people have got to say for you or your friends. It allows you to keep in touch with friends forever and also keep a track of what your pals are up to each moment. Man, it is awesome and you can juz’ spend hours fiddling with the various elements that exist there. Orkut, on the other hand (at least for me...), can be used just to check what your pals are trying to tell or inform you and probably check some of their snaps. But of course, Facbi does not necessarily have an edge over Orkut, especially because unlike Orkut, it employs a little too many sections, applications, ads, elements, features and so on.

Some people might underline Facbi as not being user-friendly whereas Orkut being really easy to use. This may vary from a user to user perspective. Orkut and Facebook have their own strengths and weaknesses. What makes each one unique, simply is bound by how a user likes the space. So these debates all zero down to what I or you like being frequently on, Orki or Facbi! You addicted to anyone of these. Well, I am! So which one of these is your favorite? You may post your comment and we may always discuss... is there some other network that is as popular as these two? Hmm, like Twitter!

Quote for the day:
"The value of a social network is defined not only by who's on it, but by who's excluded."