It’s a special day...!
Today, April 11th, is a very special day for me. Why special? Any guesses? Hmm….its not my birthday. Anniversary?….No!!…. No, I don’t celebrate this occasion every year. Then what ?? Well, today is my 50th DAY at MouthShut. Nothing to really boast about….other members have been sharing their thoughts about MouthShut in their 50th review. And me? Just 6 reviews old…(sigh)! But hey, its special for me …in my own little way :- ) I have enjoyed every moment of being here….It’s a great feeling, having made so many great pals and sharing our thoughts, feelings, experiences with each other….whether it’s about a product or a person, a sport or a place, a movie or a disease. So many different opinions. Each with his/her own attitude. We argued, we fought, we debated, we envied….BUT, we also agreed, we supported, we loved! And more than anything else, we had lots of fun! :- )
My story...
It was 14th February’2002; Valentines day…..I was with my valentine [mom darling :- )] shopping in Bandra for my brother’s wedding. Love was in the air. Bandra streets were more crowded than ever [ which gave the love birds a chance to cuddle even more ;- ) ]. Red cushion -hearts, ribbons, stickers ….hanging here and there. Amidst all this, (here comes the twist) ….I noticed sticky posters which said ’’MouthShut.com; your opinions matter!’’ on almost every rickshaw in the parking line. I wondered for a while….what could it be? Another love forum? Sharing opinions on love, marriage and relationships?? Or, a political forum which speaks against celebrating V-day!?? ’’Oh well, I’m not interested! Stop!- it could be something else…Okay, I will check it out later!’’
The next 3 days flew away …..the wedding was over. The guests left …and so did my bhaiya-bhabhi (for their honeymoon).
21st Feb, 2002; After all the hustle-bustle of the wedding ….days seemed dull, long and boring. That night, I logged on to the internet to check my mails. Sigh! No new mails : -(. I started surfing around. And then….suddenly….lightning struck! :- ) I immediately jumped to https://mouthshut.com .
In the first glance, the only thing that caught my eye was the ’Opinions Wanted’ section. Among those products listed, the only one on which I could share my experience was ’Satyam Online DialUp’…the ISP (Internet Service Provider). I read the query and clicked on it to add my opinion. That’s when it took me to the registration page. It was just sooo simple and quick.
After registration, I had a quick meal and logged-in with my MouthShut ID for the fiirst time. Again, jumped straight to Opinions Wanted-> Satyam Online …and got the ’’Write your review’’ page. Quickly began … ’’Hi All!’’. I ended as quickly as I started! It didn’t take me more than 5 minutes to write my 1st review. I guess most newcomers make this mistake….and I wasn’t any different. After submitting my review…I tried adding some information and my pic to the profile page . And then, when I went back to the homepage. What do I see?? My review!!?? under ’’High Ranking’’. I had no idea what that meant! I clicked on ’more’ to see what it looks like. By then, a few had already rated the review and 2 of them added a comment too. Its only then that I realised what I had done!! My first reaction was ’’Oh Godd!!’’ :- ) ~Nandakumar~ was the first person to read/rate and comment on my review. That made him the 1st person on my Trust list too! Thanks Nands!! for your encouraging comments.
I went-on to read/rate other reviews and grasped what MouthShut.com was all about. This is how my journey started, and since then, there has been no looking back!
MouthShut: The things I like...
1)The Homepage: Not only is the MouthShut homepage attractive, but it is also ’complete’. Attractive because of the colours….which are neither too dark and nor too light; pleasing to the eyes. The placement of the various sections including Star Writer, High and Low ranking, Search, Review of the Day, Product Categories, Latest 5, Opinions wanted etc. are just perfect! The homepage is well-managed by including all of the above without making it look congested. One ’cute’ thing in the homepage is the rolling eye-balls besides the ’Community Center’ link. Ever noticed? :- )
2)Writing reviews: You may not believe me on this one…I know! This is my 7th review and I say I like writing! Believe me, I would love to write more. Infact, if you see my profile…you’ll notice that the 1st 3 reviews came up in 3 consecutive days. I felt I was getting addicted…so I decided to take a break. More so, I believe in ’quality’ rather than ’quantity’.
3) Reading and Rating reviews: I’m sure no one will deny this one :) I’ve rated over 1, 500 reviews and read even more. Infact, I try to read and rate every single review posted. Not only for the simple pleasure of reading, but also for adding to my accumulated knowledge.
4)Adding comments: Someone asked me if I am appointed as the official person to ’welcome’ all new members at MS…lol. The answer is… No, but I just wish to extend the ’be at home’ feeling I was given. Apart from that, I also like giving ’pat on the back’ comments :- )
5)Trust Circle: It always feels nice to be added to the trust list. Special thanks to all 62 people who chose to add me in theirs. With most, the feeling is mutual.
6)Community Center: It is the best place to browse around when there are no new reviews coming up. Checking the new entrants in the Best Debut, Hall of Fame and Hot reviews section keeps you abreast of those doing well. I like visiting center atleast once a day. The latest happenings and features added etc. are also reflected here.
7)M2M Mail: The M2M (Member to Member) Mail -is the one of the best features of MS. It allows personal one-to-one interaction between the members and adds-on as a tool of communication. I’m sure all of you have noticed the new look of M2M mails…I like it even more now! For those who don’t- you always have the option to disable it (though I wouldn’t advise anyone to do so).
PS: Please hop to Part 2 of the review as this exceeds 8000 character limit. I’ve been up trying to adjust /alter for 4 hours now. Kindly rate both.Please bear with me! Thanks