A perspective of social networking websites....

On the other day, I was telling my friend that he was never active in orkut and he is not active in facebook either... While I was updating him about what our mutual friends are posting he was telling me about how these things can be received by emails as well and you dont need to read someone else's posts blah blah... so the conversation went on around this and he made a statement 'I somehow feel that people who are very active in social networking websites are having exhibitionist and/or voyeuristic tendencies.. Otherwise why will people be so open about what is happening in their lives and comment about what is happening in others!' - Got me thinking....

Why do people join these websites - I think majority do it out of curiosity to see what is there and also to claim 'I've been there and done that'...

I was very active in orkut and figured out most of my friends had started using facebook and I joined facebook as well. I am very active there as I believe in sharing what I feel with my friends. Dont I've other modes of communicating that? Yes, i can do it through mails, calls or just dropping inif they are close by... but orkut/facebook gives me a wider audience. I post when I feel sad/happy/proud/sick/tired and a few from the network always comment with the right words. I come out of depression/be more happy and feel consoled at the appropriate times. And there is joy in getting touch with your old friends , people from school, college and your town...Being a social animal and living in apartments (most of the time without knowing who your neighbours are) and being online most of your waking hours, what other better mode can be available to make your life interesting?!! i cant think of many...