Social networking web sites such as Facebook aren't always about wasting your time. There's a lot you can do with it. There are apps from games to professional utilities - all at one place...
A significant shift has occurred in social networking trends among the Indian youth over the last one year: almost everybody who ever had an Orkut account now has one on Facebook - and few have even opted out of Orkut altogether. Over the last four months, the number of active users of Facebook has more than doubled and July 2009 saw more than 3.2 million Indian users. Comscore, the internet marketing and research company, says 68.2 per cent of the time spent by Indians on social networking, was spent on Orkut. But just ask your friends and family about which hangout they prefer while on the net and you'll probably find the Comscore results surprising. Let's face it: for a growing number of Indians, Facebook is the new Orkut.
One reason for Facebook's growing popularity is its aggressive marketing strategy. Facebook has ensured it stays visible in the media through tie-ups with various major companies such as Aircel for mobile internet services, Vodafone (and their ZooZoos) for free access to Facebook - with all its pokes, updates and egg sending - on your cell phone, and Viacom's MTV (India) for 'Celebrity Connect' - finding out which celebs you resemble. Its failed attempt to buy Twitter, and the recent acquisition of FriendFeed - has also helped to keep it in the public eye.
The other reason is that it's packed with dozens of unique features, an immensely interactive, instantly gratifying and deeply interesting range of applications (or 'apps'), and surprising tweaks that let you have fun while being in constant touch with your friends and family. Let's take a peek at a few of the things that you could do on (and with) Facebook to bring the 'social' back into your network and to make it more exciting, entertaining and cool.
Applications
Log in to Facebook.com and take a good look at the bottom left corner of the screen. You can't miss that little button on the toolbar, which says f applications. On the f applications toolbar, click on the link that says 'Browse More Applications'. This will open up a Pandora's box of applications for you to choose from.
Games
We'll start this quick tour of applications with a look at three of the most happening games on the Facebook site, in order of popularity.
FarmVille:
While about 62 per cent of the Indian population is actually employed in the agricultural sector, all of a sudden, the population of virtual farmers has boomed, thanks to FarmVille. This online game in which anyone can set up and cultivate his/ her own virtual farm has nearly 35 million users and is definitely the most popular game on Facebook. Developed by Zynga, San Francisco, it allows you to become an online farmer - plant, grow, harvest and sell crops, buy or breed livestock - to earn 'coin income'. Each crop requires a few hours to grow (Tomatoes need eight hours, Raspberries need two, sunflowers need 23 and so on) and each give you an XP (short for experience).
The more crops and trees you plant, the more experience you earn. Farmers can invite other Facebook friends to become neighbours and send special gifts according to the level. Access to which crops you can grow depends on the number of points you've got - and therefore, which level you've reached in the game - pineapple seeds, for example, are only available to you once you reach level 15 (Professor of Agriculture) having gathered 4,500 points
Mafia Wars:
This is a multiplayer browser game that's on MySpace and Tagged as well but has an incredible 23,367,984 monthly active users (and growing) on Facebook alone. This is another hit game by Zynga, but unlike the slow, domestic space of FarmVille, it encourages you to loot, rob, kill and create an Al Capone like empire. Set in New York City, Little Italy or Cub, players must choose a character, do jobs to earn cash, build a gang by recruiting members and fight other mafia conglomerates - all with limited stamina, energy and health
As in FarmVille, you can 'level up' by getting more points and gaining XP by doing more jobs. As you rise up in levels, you are rewarded with access to new features, new weapons and new jobs.
MindJolt Games:
More than 50 games clamour for your attention on the MindJolt Games application. Prevent balls from reaching the bottom, break up brick walls, play pool, destroy balls in combinations of three - there are innumerable options to choose from. If you get bored of getting shot up in Mafia Wars, turn to MindJolt for several hours of unlimited gaming pleasure. There are other funky hangout games like Yoville and Living Social, which let you interact with friends and contacts in entertaining ways. Don't forget to check out Pet Society, another game application that contains plenty of games and decorations to play around with.
Utilities
