orkut

bargeboo: i am not sure how long it has been up and running but one thing i know is that orkut has become one of the fastest growing internet communities among iranian computer owners. there are a number of factors about this that fascinate me: 

a. according to h. derakhshan, iranians are the third largest community in orkut only surpassed by brazil and united states. amazing really, for a country where less than 3% of the population owns a computer.

b. although initially it seems every iranian there is around 19 years old, however on closer inspection that is not quit the case. there are many 30 something or older users who are scattered around the globe and use the service to find their old lost friends. this is based on member profiles and the comments i have seen they leave for their friends.

c. after much arm twisting i also jumped on the hoopla and became a member, mostly because i was getting very curious. after a week an old friend of my junior high years contacted me who now lives in the same country as me. only a couple of days later an even older friend from kindergarten days found me! i had lost touch with her with i left iran 13 years ago. not to mention all the various friends and relatives i have been able to connect to each other through my own profile. (each member is connected in a family tree format to all his/her friends, major 6 degree of separation theory here!)

d. another very interesting feature of orkut is its communities. there are over 5000 of them and growing every minute it seems. members set up communities that range in topic from cooking, art, parenting, fan clubs, chocolate, movies, old kids shows to gay and lesbian groups, pornography lovers, suicide, addiction and basically anything and everything in between. this in itself is perhaps not a new concept as seen in yahoo groups. what i find cool however is how for the first time iranians are able to connect with other people of the world as well as other iranians based on common interests. its not so much about where you are from but about what your interests are. for example, for the very first time iranian fans of “chris de burge” have their very own community. “harry potter” holds his own as well. some very creative translations of modern iranian poetry can be found posted by members available to anyone who is curious and much much more.

and in fact that is really the part that fascinates me. i mean, truly isn't that what internet is about? about us learning about cultures, people and any old thing on the planet? wasn't it set up to create the "global village"? in my opinion the communities in orkut are a true smaple of that much coveted global village, a giant pen-pal warehouse if you will where every iranian who knows even a bit of english can connect with "outsiders" and chit chat about parenting challenges, latest hair colour of J.LO or the magnificent compositions of “bach” for string quartets. i love reading the posts where non-iranians express wonder about how "lucky luck", "pink panther" and "tin tin" are known in iran, how "van gough" is loved so feverishly in "that" part of the world or how politically aware and active iranian women actually are.

in fact, pen pals used to be a distant dream to post revolutionary iranians teen (ie. me) where i imagined a blond blue eyed girl who would write me wonderful letters and tell me all about how SHE lived HER life. someone who i could share my life with too and practice my english with. ok so i was strange but really a lot of my friends envied me when i began exchanging letters with my two cousins who lived in switzerland and itally. every new letter was read and re-read in school by all my class mates ...

e. but i stray ... i also wanted to point out how i have noticed that although flirtations and one-liners are not at all uncommon in the posts, free exchange of ideas and a true dialogue is abundant among the opposite sex, among members of each community. not a big deal you say? on the contrary, in a land where hardly any interaction exists between males and females where sexual tension does not exist, this is in fact a rare blessing. i really think men and women benefit greatly by having friends of opposite sex where they can learn humility, as well as proper social interaction skills. i never enjoyed that myself until i left iran. in fact it took quite a number of years to adjust to having male friends who enjoy my company for my conversation and need nothing more.

orkut may just be a passing fad. it may not even be around in a month or so but what is there now is a remarkable glimpse into the iranian culture. limited of course by the number that is computer literate but pretty cool never the less.