Orkut Connections

jonasbn on 2004-02-01T10:55:18

I have received several "new connections" on Orkut to people who I know who are, but I really never talked to or met - perhaps superficially on IRC.

I do not know currently how I should address this. I am considering contacting the people asking what out relations are and why they have made the connection.

All my connections are currently to people whom I have met, worked with or talk to regularly - and I think this is my criteria for considering them a friend in Orkut.

If you want to do business, want to go out for a beer when in Copenhagen or you want to hear where you can participate in a Games::Bingo game, contact me via email or on IRC.

Heh, I sound a bit grumpy don't I?

I would love to get new friends, even via Orkut, but if you are just in it for the Orkut game aspect (the most connections), please reconsider contacting me.

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My rules

merlyn on 2004-02-01T12:25:34

I've add a lot of people to my friends list, but every one of them is someone that I've either met in person (and that's quite a few) or I know from extensive online email and chatting. If I get an incoming request from someone I don't immediately recognize, I "send message" back to them with "Friend request: Have we met? Please remind me.", and then cancel the friend request. If they say "no, but I've read your books", I politely refuse, but if they can recall a specific interaction or their IRC handle, then I resubmit the friend request.

Re:My rules

jonasbn on 2004-02-02T08:31:58

Hi Randal,

I have now followed your rules, now I can just wait and see what happens...

What's the deal?

jacques on 2004-02-02T02:38:51

I don't get these sites. So you connect with people you know. Can't you connect through instant messenger or some other means. Is the whole purpose to show how many friends you have?

Re:What's the deal?

Matts on 2004-02-02T08:24:08

Is the whole purpose to show how many friends you have?

I think so. :-)

Seriously though, I am learning some interesting things about people I (thought I) knew. But other than the interest factor it seems fairly pointless so far, except as a spamming tool (I've already received political spam via FoF messaging).

Re:What's the deal?

jonasbn on 2004-02-02T08:44:04

Hi Jacques,

The 'how many friends' is what I refer to as the gaming aspect, I do not play that game.

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Orkut actually offers something else. I have access to data on all my "friends" - the term friends here is a bit loose, since it includes people whom I now via IRC, people whom I have met at conferences/workshops and the Copenhagen Perl Mongers etc.

I can via Orkut have access to data like birthdays, phonenumbers and sexual orientation etc. eh, forget the last one, but anyway, this is data I would not normally have access to unless I did a lot of emailing etc. and as an active member of the Copenhagen Perl Mongers it is very convenient for me to have access to a sort of yellow pages of the Perl community, it will make it much easier for me to get access to people, if I find out that they are in Scandinavia and not to mention the post YAPC::* chaos where you try to locate some of the people you talked to about small things, which evolve to ideas which might need to be pursued.

I like Orkut, it gives me a head start

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