There are times in office – unfortunately, too few and far between – when you have no work, nobody yelling for deadlines, and you’re a loose end. Rather than fall asleep in your chair – bad for spine and image alike – why don’t you take the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, find new ones, share your latest, and maybe even get a new job, or find a business partner. Let’s look at some of the networking sites around.
www.orkut.com – Orkut is essentially a place where you can put up a profile, including work, photos, wants, interests, likes and dislikes, but the real fun begins in its’ scrapbook system – where anyone can leave a message for you – and in its’ communities, where any subject you can think of can be talked over with like-minded people.
People that you may not have met for decades will suddenly turn up, sometimes exactly as they were, sometimes changed out beyond recognition. People you may never have met, may become lifelong friends from a single shared interest. And it’s almost as good as a messenger for sending quick, brief messages that will always be accessible.
How do you join? You need a google account, and since Orkut works on a by-invite system, at least one person to send you an invite. And once you’re online, you can start building up your own friend list.
www.linkedin.com – Unlike Orkut, which is all about fun and friendship, Linkedin is a very straightforward, no-nonsense, business-only site. Your profile itself doesn’t bother about hobbies, or interests – it reads more like an extremely detailed CV. All contacts, messages, and comments are tagged with the writer’s work profile. People in your network can add a recommendation of their experience working with you, as an online reference. (These recommendations give a snapshot of you when anyone is searching for a service in your industry, by the way) When anyone in your network changes a job, gets a new profile, or adds a new connection, it’s updated on your home page, so it’s a great way to track ex-colleagues’ and friends’ careers.
Other interesting features – the ability to ask questions to your network, which can be answered by anyone and is visible to all. An email signature design that offers all recipients of your emails a quick snapshot of your profile, added to your outlook mails. Updates on who is hiring, and where. Finding people who offer certain services you may need. And most of all, it’s an always-updated, anywhere-available online CV with recommendations and references for you.
How to join? No problem; just go to www.linkedin.com, sign up, and you’re ready. Linkedin also has a useful feature of letting you invite everyone in your Gmail, Microsoft outlook, Hotmail, AOL or Yahoo email list, via a slightly lengthy but well-explained feature. And otherwise, all you need to invite people is just their name and email.
www.ryze.com – This is somewhere between the above two, in terms of allowing you to use it as a business tool, or a social networking site. Like orkut, it has communities and interest groups you can join and participate in; like linkedin, it lets you define your work and search for companies and profiles, and defines each person by his work profile. However, it has several unique features of it’s own that make it lots of fun. For instance, you can create your own page, rather than just fill up fields pre-set for you. If you know HTML, this can make your page as unique and customized as you want. Ryze also publishes a regular update on events, which is a great way to keep you updated on the latest happenings in your city.
Biggest disadvantage – you cannot connect with people directly, unless you’re a paid member or you already know his email id.
Biggest advantage – an events update that comes directly to your inbox.
Word of warning – remember, the internet is a public place. Use a sense of caution in your interactions, especially when it concerns personal info.
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