After a century at Mouthshut, I thought I have got the license to advise newcomers on how to write their profiles. I will start this review with my struggle for a good profile.
MY PROFILE
Initially, my profile just stated my name, location, date of birth etc., and under the interests section I had simply listed my interests. It was only in as late as April 2002, that I came across a brilliant review by MS member Ranjran, which made me understand what goes on to make a really effective profile page. For newcomers, you can find this review on* https://mouthshut.com/readreview/21093-1.html
Charged up by this review, I decided to ponder on what should be highlighted on my profile. Something that made me special, well above the others, or in spookaay's words, the Supreme Being. I asked my wife, who curtly replied- Just lie!
Finding no encouragement from that quarter.(or half).I asked the opinions of my friends. All of them seemed to agree that if I wanted the visitors to have a hearty laugh, my photograph was the best option.
The comedy element accounted for, I started thinking about my age. I thought that perhaps I should cut off a few years, just to seem young. But everyone objected to this idea, as they felt that my photograph anyway made it look like my age was ten years more than my real age. So, deciding that I should not lie(much against my wife's advice), I started thinking on my good points.
It was indeed frustrating! I mean, how would you feel if you cannot think of a single good point in your personality without lying? I mean.just see! I am fat enough to make an elephant look like Mr. India. I smoke! I drink! I am a non-graduate. Slowly, I began to see why my father's blood pressure shot up whenever he saw me! The feeling must be really bad, when you see your child in the form of Maddy! That was when the brilliant idea struck me. My father must certainly have seen something in me that deserved a mention. I called him up.
What is good about me?- I asked him. He was speechless. After a prolonged silence, my father cleared his throat and said- Well.umm.something must be good! Considering that you found a wife.
So.for the second time, I looked at my wife for the answer. My dad had a point! She must have seen some good points to have married me! My wife just sighed and said- I guess I just went overboard in my quest for challenges. But you were just too dumb for my efforts!
So, friends.there I was, blinking in front of my computer, thinking of some quality I could feel proud of! That was when the phone rang! It was a director friend of mine. He said- Hey, Maddy, that music you made was fabulous. None of us could believe that a bloke like you can be so creative.
I cursed him, and banged down the phone. And suddenly, it dawned on me! He just gave me one good point- music. That is what I highlighted in my profile. My imagination could not think of any other point, and that's why you only see a mention of music in the About Me section on my profile.
Just_did_it's review on The ABC of India gave me an idea about the My Interests section. Believe me, it was a real difficult task sorting out my interests alphabetically, but I managed it!
Nandakumar's profile made me start the Smile of the day and Fact File sections in my profile. However, I change it once a fortnight, thanks to my laziness, which my friends believe I have in abundance.
TIPS FOR PROFILES
So, once you know how my profile page was created, you will easily understand when I stress the need for creativity. Be creative in your ideas. And if you are not creative, then just like your friend Maddy, borrow ideas from creative minds like Nandakumar and JeDI. But refrain from blatant copying.
Always remember that the visitor on your page is there to know more about you.so be truthful. At the same time, make your page interesting with sections like Joke of the week, Riddle for you, Fact file and Oneliners.
Some members do not enable the Send E-mail facility. Of course, each to his own opinion, but I feel that this facility should be enabled as this is the only function on your profile, which gives you direct feedback from your readers and visitors.
Do not make the profile too lengthy. At the same time, do not make it too brief, too!
Last but the most important- Be sure that your profile visitor leaves your page with a smile on his face.
SOME OF MY FAVOURITE PROFILES
These are some of the profiles I would strongly recommend to readers. Do go through the profiles of members like ranjran, angel009, yamraaj, spookaay, nandakumar, pooj, santoz, just_did_it, tongue_in_cheek, eyesopen, spacejunkie and jilmil.
IN CONCLUSION
I solemnly promise to write something more in my About Me section, as soon as my wife succeeds in solving this dumb challenge! Till then.just give your comments!
