Orkut Perils?

A regular online surfer must have come across the website, Orkut. Like many other websites, Orkut is another social networking site, which has gained tremendous popularity in India. For many of us, including me, it was an unbelievable piece of technology, which allowed me to get in touch with people, with whom I had my last social interaction over a decade ago. The internet has made the world small, Orkut shrunk it further.

But, due to the nature of the medium, it has its own sets of problems and dangers. I am not here to criticize it. I just don't want to be another hypocrite, who will write things which may make people go up in roar against me. We all are human, who thrive by living in various social institutions. Orkut is just one of those institutions. But, unfortunately there are anti-social ailments as well.

Orkut started making a lot of headlines since October 2006, but all of them were about the negatives of Orkut. Starting with a guy from Mumbai, who landed up in Jail for misusing the service and tarnishing an image of a girl who wasn't even a part of the community.

In case, you missed the story in the newspapers, here's a small brief on the incident. The guy made a fake profile of the girl and posted her cell phone number along with lots more details. The profile was sketched in such a way that would draw (and it sure did) lewd comments from many who visited her profile. Now, you can imagine the turmoil the girl had to go through.

Some weeks later, Orkut featured in newspapers again with Orkut Communities being misused. In this case, the underworld was using the community feature to hire people. Well, no one knows how authentic was this community, but it does arise the chances of being real.

One can possibly imagine all the wrong things possible with Orkut. One just did, and the next day, Orkut got banned over a lot of ISPs. Well, you may have correctly guessed who may have thought of this so-called brilliant suggestion. But, is that the real solution to all problems?

In today's world of globalization and technology advancements, there is no prevention. The misuse of information has been present for centuries due to human nature. Orkut is just another instance of information getting abused. I must have sent my CV to lots of agency and companies, which even includes my cell phone number and residence address. What are the chances that the information over there won't be exploited? Ultimately, blaming is the last thing one should do.

Technology changes life and values and nobody can stop it. Even the Gun that kills a man can have number of plus points in its favor and can be debated upon endlessly.

The only remedy is to know about the perils of not only Orkut, but about everything. Orkut being an online medium and comes under technology, I had to write about the hypocrisy surrounding it. The only suggestion I should pass it on to the readers is to be very cautious in the online world, as one is cautious in the real world. One doesn't really keep the main door of the house open all the time.

What do you think about Orkut and other social networking websites? Do you want it to be banned, changed, or continue the way it is? I just expressed my views. We would love to hear from you.