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Monday, August 30, 2010

How Strong Are the Dot Coms?

Has it occurred to you? You are doing something on the net and they ask you to download a plug in and then you go ahead and download it, and the net gets disconnected, ending your session (as it is called) and you are left chewing your already chewed up lips. Grr.

After having worked in dot com companies (3 of them) which collapsed without a trace, I am mighty sceptical about the internet and websites. After all, there’s no brick and mortar attached to it. Tomorrow the web I spend a lot of time on can collapse and another application can take its place. With it you will lose whatever relationships and friends you have so painstakingly built up. Even today I am sceptical that the dot coms will fade away just as myspace has faded away from public memory. It used to be the best until Facebook took over.

I was a crazy follower of ryze.com, another website and social networking site. I had made a lot of friends on it. But now I hardly ever look at the website except go to a few forums I still follow which are anchored on it. And whereas I would get three or four messages a day on it, now I don’t ever receive any messages. Zero. I guess my friends have realised I have moved on. I am an eternal net wanderer.

I think the internet and the dot coms have made us all unfinished people using products that in themselves are unfinished and tentative. If you don’t use the net for a few weeks then the trickle of replies to your blog or facebook page also goes down proportionately. Your net persona is there only as far as you are. If you don’t post you are lost.

I guess it is inherent in the meaning of the medium, the very fickleness. Or, may be I am fickle myself. I do agree I am fickle, here for the fickleness of it. In fact, relationships in today’s world are fickle and short-lived. It’s a very selfish relationship over the net.  

2 comments:

The Leather Bound Team said...

Great post.

People need to be reminded to pay more importance to their real world relationships....I imagine there would be a lot of people who would be 'depressed' if facebook suddenly ceased to operate!! Hopefully, my name won't feature on that list if it ever happened!

Unknown said...

abhinav,

true, i too wouldn't miss facebook too much though I would miss blogger a lot.

John