Orkut vs. Friendster

["Michael McGeachie" <mmcgeach@>]

Hi GSB,

Michael McGeachie <mmcgeach@> has invited you to join his network
of friends at orkut.

Visit orkut to accept or decline the invitation!  

http://www.orkut.com

* * *

Michael McGeachie has invited you to join Mike's personal and private
community at Friendster, where you and Mike can network with each
other's friends.

Friendster is an online community that connects people through networks
of friends for dating or making new friends.

Friendster is for people who are single, people in relationships, and
anyone who wants to make new friends or help their friends meet new
people.

Click below to join Friendster: http://www.friendster.com

* * *

If one website devoted to the reification of your social network wasn't
enough, now there are two!  For the uninitiated, both Orkut and
Friendster allow you to post online personal ads that are visible only
to people whom you designate as "friends," and to their friends, and
their friends, and so on, up to 4 degrees.  While the
six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon theory is somewhat interesting, what they
don't tell you is it's a contest: the one with the most friends wins a
trip to Tahiti.  Now, the must-win strategists out there will be well
advised that Friendster has been around for much longer than Orkut, and
it may seem difficult to overcome the reigning Friendster champs with
close to 7,000 friends.  And the number of people in your extended
social network grows even faster.  After just singing up on Friendster I
have 62,213 people in my extended friends network, and 12,345 in Orkut.
A trip to Fiji is awarded to the first person on either service to be
connected to all of North America.  But there are other important
differences as well.  Friendster is mostly a social website, with
matches for dating and activities being the primary focus.  Orkut has
support for professional profiles and business matching.  It may help
you get a job.  Yet Orkut combines with this business focus the ability
to rate your friends, on a scale of 1-3 hearts or ice cubes, how much
you love them or how cool they are, respectively.

Who will win?  Orkut vs. Friendster!  The match of the century!

Remember, if the internet tells you you have 3,815 friends, then it must
be true!

And speaking of reifying social contests, be sure to show up on time to
this week's GSB because there may be an exodus for free food to the EECS
Grad Student Association Inauguration Party in the Grier Room (34-401)
before 7pm.  Yes, it's a GSA pre-party at this week's...


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              girl scout benefit -+-  5:30 pm  -+- 7ai playroom
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              [ for those coming from elsewhere: building ne43,
                http://whereis.mit.edu/bin/map?locate=bldg_ne43 ]