Networking and expression

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Why_else_would_Google_buy_YouTube/articleshow/996938.cms

Why else would Google buy YouTube?
MANISHA SINGH

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2006 01:35:46 AM]

Networking and expression — that sums up most of the activity that's
done on the internet today. It's no more just an information
powerhouse. And if the increasing number of social networking sites
marks the former, the growing number of blogs across the webspace
confirms the latter. Blogs, which till a couple of years ago were
assumed to be something meant only for the geeks, have now become
mainstream. And social networking sites like MySpace, YouTube and
Facebook have been the outstanding success stories of 2006. Why else
would Google buy YouTube for $1.65 billion?

In fact, one high point of internet in 2006 has been the rise of
social networking sites. There was a strong growth in existing web 2.0
networks like Flickr and del.icio.us. Google's Orkut too is a hot
favourite among youngsters: Over 100,000 users within 48 hours of
launch, while MySpace has over 125,000,000 users. It's so, so hot that
we now have close to a dozen social networking sites focused on India:
yaari.com, minglebox.com, zhoom.com, DesiMartini.com and humsubka.com,
to name a few.

Today, blogging represents an open communication, dialogue, feedback
and collaboration-enrich content that help bloggers share and express
their views as well as network. Says Rajesh Segu, a software
professional, "Many consider blogging as a way to connect and share.
Also, many people have started trusting blogs more than the
traditional news media." In fact, blogging isn't the random rantings
that had filled up cyberspace in 2005. There's a more serious breed —
so you now have political, literary, travel blogging... topics that
are directed at niche audiences. Corporates too have taken to
blogging: The software giant Microsoft had a blog on its long-awaited
operating system Windows Vista. It had all the key members of the
Vista team. The iPod rival Zune too has a similar blog. Says Segu,
"Most people today look at blogs with due respect for knowledge and
information."

Similarly while social networking sites like Orkut and hi5 are popular
among most school and college populace, networking services like
LinkedIn and Ryze are hugely popular among professionals. Says,
Gurdeep Sodhi, a marketing professional, "I have all my present and
ex-colleagues on Ryze. Any movement or job opening in my field and I
get the info."

The biggest testimony to the growing popularity of blogs was the
revoking of the blogs ban by the government in July. Blogging,
particularly on fanatic and religious websites, had surged soon after
the Mumbai bomb blasts on July 11. Says Kiruba Shankar, one of the
first bloggers and podcasters in the country, "The collective spirit
of the bloggers proved that they are a force to be reckoned with. The
united war cry by the bloggers caught the attention of the mainstream
media and together they forced the government and the concerned
department to backtrack on their blogs blocking plan."

According to Blog Herald, the number of bloggers worldwide has touched
200 million. The US tops the chart with 50-million bloggers. Though
India has just 1.2 million bloggers, compared to 19.87 million in
China and 10 million in Japan, the number is fast growing. Says Vinay
Kumar, director, Times Internet, "Indiatimes.com has over 20,000
blogs. The number of blogs has witnessed 30% YoY growth."

Says Mr Shankar: "Blogging is definitely evolving every year though I
feel it will be quite some time before serious blogging kicks in. And
that will only happen when blogging becomes a better paying
proposition. I notice that professional blogs have better content."

True, though India still doesn't have too many professional bloggers,
the concept of monetizing one's blogs has set in. But like everything
this too has a negative as third year engineering college student
Ganesh APP points out, "After the monetizing blog concept, there has
been a drastic change in the way people have started writing. Posts
are no longer written for oneself, but to please the junta reading
your blog. Comments matter, clicks matter, number of visitors matter
and more importantly Google ads matter. But all this also means that
the purpose of blogging is killed."


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