Following a recent kidnap and murder case which involved the social networking site Orkut, there has been a lot of noise and dust raised in the Indian media and public about how wicked Orkut is and how it should be banned. A lot of typically reactionary articles find their way in every newspaper following such incidents of online crime. I am not really sure of the details of this particular case, but it has once again perpetrated a lot of myths and loose talk in the Press about Orkut in particular and online social networking in general.

First of all, I am no fan of social networking myself, but I have to say that blaming what is essentially a glorified contact list for the kidnapping and murder of an individual is quite stupid. Yes, Orkut is an online "contact list" in my book and it does allow people to store and share personal information with others. Before all these incidents took place, people gushed over Orkut's usefulness to society at large and about how uplifting it was to find one's old, long-lost school or college-mates through it. I wasn't impressed then. Then when something horrible happened through such online contacts, the same people take a 180 degree turn in their stance and start howling in outrage. It's absolutely clear that the journalists who write about it now haven't a clue as to how to use the internet in the first place. Let's get this straight: people aren't forced to reveal private or intimate information about themselves in the first place. If a user is stupid enough or egoistic enough to share high resolution portrait snapshots, street address or phone numbers in user profiles, then nobody can guarantee his/her privacy or safety. The key here is that Orkut certainly doesn't require you to make such revelations. You *can* use all of Orkut's facilities without having to reveal an iota of personally identifiable trivia. Thirdly, Orkut does have privacy options which allow users to protect profile data from anybody else or reveal such info only to trusted "friends". Finally, using Orkut for really important or confidential communication is plain stupid and not recommended.

It's a no-brainer. Orkut is just a technological tool - a website that provides a service. I don't rate its service too highly nor do I see a lot of benefit from using it, but there are people who find it interesting and addictive. All power to them. At the same time, I would suggest that they also learn how to use Orkut effectively and safely. Parents should actually do their job and monitor their children's online activities rather than whine and moan about Orkut and ask for a total ban on the website. It's simply not feasible whichever way you look at it because *even* if Orkut is blocked effectively, there are hundreds of similar websites which provide similar services. How can any authority govern the Internet effectively and totally? It's simply impossible.

I think people should take a lot more responsibility for their own actions. Using public Internet space like a private playground is definitely not recommended and although the possible dangers of doing so are highly exaggerated by the media at times, the only information which you should post about yourself is what you would be 100% comfortable revealing to the whole world. Online social networking has made the process of establishing contacts a lot easier. It hasn't changed anything else about the way the world works. If you want to stay completely safe from the internet, just pull off the cable. It's that simple