Work Portfolio

You are probably very familiar with this creature. In fact, you may be one yourself. If you want to catch a glimpse of one, do not try to make eye contact. You’ll have to find its face in the reflection of its laptop, cellphone, iPod or, for the more affluent ones, its Blackberry. If you want to communicate with it, do not bother speaking. Type, text or Twitter it. This creature wanders the city equipped with gadgets that claim to make life easier and more efficient. This creature is the digital native. The digital native spends a good portion of its day on social networking sites, like Friendster and Facebook. Friendster was launched in March 2002, and was booming by the end of 2003. Digital natives were able to find like-minded friends with just a few clicks of their mouse. Users excitedly swapped photos and “bulletin board” messages. In 2005, users started writing blog posts and shout-outs. Six years after Friendster’s inception, it is still one of the five busiest Web sites in Indonesia and is the country’s most popular social networking site. But all fads inevitably come and go, and digital networkers are quickly switching to Facebook. The Web site was originally designed by Harvard geek Mark E. Zuckerberg as a school-based social networking tool. His creation has become the most happening Web sites in the world for its category, beating competitors MySpace in the United States and nearing Friendster in Asia. Facebook is now the fifth most popular Web site in Indonesia, while Friendster maintains its lead with the third largest number of visitors. It’s common to see young adults running their lives with a combination of gadgets and Web sites. They listen to songs on  Last.fm, research online with the help of Professor Google, bookmark all the important Web sites on Del.icio.us, and then share them on Facebook. “Facebook is connected with other social networking sites, like Last.fm, Twitter, Flickr, Wordpress, Del.icio.us, and many more,” says Deon, 24, a digital native. “I signed up for Facebook because a friend sent me an invitation to the site,” said Ari, 28, an Indonesian student in Malaysia. Alfa Afrodita, 31, a Jakarta-based freelancer, signed up because she wanted to join the London Creative Council Group, which has helped her advertising career. She then tried to get all her friends and colleagues to join Facebook. “I love reading status updates,” she said. Status updates is a feature on Facebook that allows people to tell their friends what they are doing at any point in time. In the newest design, Facebook has enabled users to comment on their friends’ status updates, copying the micro-blogging style of Web sites like Twitter and Plurk. Friends can post comments when a rolling update called a “news feed” declares that “Brady is now single,” or “Jon and Angie are now in a relationship.” “It’s kind of annoying,” says Rizky, a 23-year-old student. “I just don’t find it amusing when my friends comment on me breaking up with my ex.” Still, Rizky continues to provide that kind of  information for his friends. Users seem to like the design and authenticity of Facebook. “Friendster does not know how to innovate,” says Icha, a 21-year-old student. “I like Facebook because people tend to use their real names, which makes it easier for me to find people. And it seems that people all around the world use it, so it’s easier to keep in touch with friends abroad.” While Zuckerberg said his intention was to connect users with other people around them, young adults who resist the digital social trend may feel like outcasts. Photos of anyone can be uploaded on Facebook, whether they are users or not. Facebook lets its users “tag,” or label, up to 30 people in a single photo. Then users can easily view photos in which their friends are tagged. This feature puts Facebook a step ahead of its older sibling, Friendster. Eddy Indra, a student in Al-Izhar Junior High School, said: “My friends love to comment on every photo. Once I got 80 comments on one photo.” Some people are concerned Web sites like Facebook are eroding personal privacy, and amount to little more than elaborate self-promotion tools. But Facebook continues to draw new users and magically reconnect people, even in the real world. Party and wedding invitations are now being sent via Facebook. Jasmine, a 23-year-old newlywed, sent her friends wedding invitations three days before the event. And, it’s greener. She used no paper, and it was fast and free. In the digital native’s dynamic habitat, the message is clear: stay out of the madness or follow the crowd. That’s just how they do it these days.