I will not try to straighten a dog's tail.
I will not to walk the walked and talk the talked.
Iwill not dig the graves and bring out the dead and then beat them back to death.
I will not do what cannot be done.
In short I wanted to make a statement but MS wants me to write much more then 150 words.
At 4.30pm on 29th Aug 2003 I signed into mouthshut. Deliberately avoiding the 'r' in my id and bang I was off. Google helped me to get here and so did many others coz I dont happen to live in Mumbai to see MS advertising itself on the back of auto-rickshaws. Well the fact is I was here and exploring and uncovering.
Read some bike reviews, something on my ex-karizma and more. Got fascinated and read more. Lumbered with 2-3 reviews in a dash of an adrenaline and was surprised that people have time to comment back. Hmm, felt good that I am in with a group and I sure can be a part of this group.
Other folks were impressive and amazing that how they can conjure up 30-40 comments on their reviews. I read them and then read all of their work. Really good writers and hence they deserve the response. Good people needed good people, like me :P. So I joined the bandwagon with full steam RRC a plenty and wrote review almost every passing day.
There were people like who we call the 2nd level MS, a community which grew strong from 2002 till mid 2004 coz if you ask me what consisted of the 1st level? I would rather say MS was just gearing up and those included MS employees plus few others who chipped in for the excitement of the Dot Com. All went well until something unwell happened and the community got disintegrated or exactly put a part of it got disillusioned of MS and left. Life moved on and so did MS with more people and then suddenly last year again people got disillusioned from MS and left. Another set of people came in and it went on until recently when again disillusionment lightning struck and once again people left.
Is this some kind of cycle on MS? Or MS is taking us for a big ride of our online life?
I would say as far as my stay of 3 years goes; I feel it’s a cycle. The apparent conclusion of this would be that Pras isn’t disillusioned by the MS at all and the matter of the fact is, he isn’t.
I know that our reviews are sold and we aren’t even credited for them.
Iknow that Kamini and Amrita have been Star Writers since the evolution and they would remain there till eternity.
Iknow that Kamini’s pictures changes like some amateur morphing project taken by bunch of school kids.
I know that Contests aren’t for us; they are for participation but not winning.
Plus I know that there’s more to it then even Dan Brown could assemble as his research for his next book.
But and that’s a big But. I would say let it be the way it is. In a business of websites when you make money on content, you will often come across such tricks or business model. Mouthshut is a website and it needs money. I found it great that I get comments on my reviews and people praise my work but as a saying says “Too much sweetness can make for bitterness” and in this case it gets for Boredom. MS just like any other website suffers from it and that too big time. I don’t read reviews when I don’t like them or something that doesn’t excite me or simply put I had too much of MS. Hence, I would rather stay away from it.
When you need Hits and more hits? Fellas like me are a danger to this site.
Acyclone looks intriguing from the center before it is ready to engulf you and the same looks like a circle of water from outside. I stay outside and prefer to get a better view while many who are intrigued by MS prefer to get it and be a part of it more so. So to keep the interest alive, to keep the vigor going, a website needs contents and people that can excite or enrage people. Unfortunately it starts with excitement and turns into enragement.
The review as I see it so far look like coming out of grandpa’s mouth struggling to complete sentences but still energized to treat his grandchildren. I write on MS only when I feel amazed by the members around and but this time its more to while some time and see what’s going on? As I said MS can be addictive but it can be equally boring at times so in a sinister way I like the MS modus to keep the site buzzing.
Trick for the members is to come, join, RRC and write and enjoy. Once you feel a little bored, I would suggest you to take a break and then comeback instead writing for the heck of it and commenting “Great review” for the need of it.
“Kayi Log Kayi Baatein”. Its upto us who we listen and what we follow? I would say it’s a Website first and a forum after. It needs money and hence there are tricks of trade applied. I would have done the same thing, had I been Faisal.
MS is about few focal points. Check them one by one:
#For the discovery part, I guess MS is all over in that aspect.
#For the fun part, it never ends here.
#For the fatigue part, it will keep happening and I will keep going out and coming back.
# For the members part, It help me find some real good friends and it will continue to do so. For the fiasco part, Unfortunate and non transparent.
#For the seriousness, NO MS isn’t for me. There are 1 million things far more serious then MS.
# For importance, Yeah it’s a good forum, good members, ok management. Ok.
Bottomline is: It’s a website. Come here do what it asks you to do. If you get bored, you have other important things to (remember 1 million). MS needn’t be taken that seriously. The moment you do so, you will come to know that yes Mouthshut, not quite ;-)
“A horror movie without sound effects makes you laugh and yawn at it”. I hope you getting me.
Rate and let me know what you feel about this in Comments.
© Cticize, 08, 2006
PS:: Forget this review if you are thinking what was all that. I will watch KANK and write on it, do read it.
