Orkutcide!

It’s started. People are leaving orkut. Some people I really like, some people I can’t stand. Some with a great drama, some quietly and without notice or ceremony.

I’m strangely pleased by this. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Maybe I just like the drama; maybe it’s a circle nearing completion. I said, back a while (oh, hell, now I have to go look it up — March Nineteenth it was) that it couldn’t last, it couldn’t stay so giddily entertaining. And honest, it lasted much longer than I expected. But it’s become very clear over the last few weeks that we’re all growing collectively bored with it.

Why? Hard to say. Certainly there’s the lure of Outside; the weather is nice, we’re barbequeing, we’re going to the beach. Our kids are out of school. We’re busy looking at young members of the appropriate sex in far too little clothing. But it’s not all distraction. There’s more.

It’s like a party. You need a certain number of people – critical party mass – for a party to swing. How many is variable of course, but too few and you all sit around and act nervous and make small talk. But there’s there’s a point where a party’s too big; maybe too many people for the space, maybe the wrong people, maybe you just can’t hear yourself think, or you can’t agree on the music or the beers runs out too fast.

So Orkut’s there. It’s still a party; but it’s getting to be the not-hip party, where the people you really want to see don’t show, or show up and leave. The place is full of lots of faces, but there are too many conversations, the in jokes don’t make as much sense or are stretched too thin or have been told too many times.

I log on several times a day now and usually log back off without doing anything. There are a few people I look for, a few groups I check, sometimes. But — well, usually it’s not my favorite people or my favorite groups or I just lose interest.

So I see people dropping out. And I wonder who’s next. I feel like placing bets.

I almost bagged it a while back, several times. I didn’t because it was still fun. But now, it’s not so much fun, yet I no longer feel any urge to make a statement by leaving, so what’s the point? It’s not eating my time anymore, not so much (Well, a little). Plus there are still a few of my very favorite people in the whole world who can regularly be found on some community somewhere. I don’t have time for the debates and flame wars, but I am highly entertained by them, and the flirting, while it’s cooled, is still tasty.

So why am I entertained by the orkutcides?

Well, clearly, people I don’t like who turn a walk away; that’s an easy one. But there are not many of those people. So why am I entertained when people I do like bag it? Far as I can tell it’s just an appreciation of the gesture, the false finality (Because of course they can come back any time, as I’ve done in effect twice now). But still the silliness of virtual suicide pleases me. Maybe that’s all. Or maybe there’s just a tiny dab of envy. ‘What’s it like on the other side? Tell me!‘

I dunno. Maybe it’s the medication talking. Talk to me, medication.

What?

Oh yes. Go to sleep. What an excellent suggestion. I’ll just do that.

But who’s going to orkutcide tomorrow?