by Armine Chitjian
With Internet technology becoming an everyday advantage, it seems more and more common for people to convene over the net. It’s become second nature to log on and meet with somebody when you’re there in your PJs, sitting with your smelly feet up on the desk, bad breath and a greasy kebab next to your PC. How much more convenient can it be? Anyone can make social contact and meet people from all over the globe without even stepping out the door. This might be old news for most of you. However, some of us have not realized just how much of an impact this has had on young Armenians from all over.
Perhaps the best example of this social hookup is a website called www.armeniansconnect.com. The originator of the website figured it would be fun and interesting if there was a virtual place where young Armos could connect with other young Armos from anywhere. The idea was ingenious. The site was launched early in 2001. It started with a few pages, which turned into a few more, quickly exploding into hundreds until the site has now passed the one hundred-page point. Over one hundred pages filled with pictures of young Armenians.
Here’s how armeniansconnect.com operates. You can go there and sign up with your own account. Don’t worry, this is all FREE. That’s right- Armenian services with no charge, could this be why it's so popular? Log in with a username and a password. Once you have an account, you can fill out your profile. It’s up to you whether or not you want your real name to be there, or any other information as you please. There’s also an option of listing an email address and screen name in the member profile. Finally, members get to post their pictures. This way, when a visitor comes to the site, they can shuffle through hundreds of pictures of fellow Armos and decide who they would like to communicate with. However, only members can view the profiles of other members.
If you’re looking through the pictures and you want to leave that person a message, you can do so at their personal page. You don’t have to email them or surprise them under their screen name which some might feel uncomfortable doing. This way, the member who is being messaged gets an email from www.armeniansconnect.com saying that they have a new message. Active members get loads of responses and messages. The fact is, mostly the people who post pictures get more action. It’s much more interesting when you can relate a face with the name. Over five hundred people visit the site everyday, many just to keep up with the loads of new pictures.
The first impression of the site for some people is that it’s created to find a guy or girl to hook up with. Although it’s happened, most of the members simply do it for fun. It’s nice to get connected with so many young Armos who are just a website away - a great way to get yourself out there into the Armenian worldwide community, or even to meet people who live in your area.
It’s always cool to meet an Armo. With conveniences such as www.armeniansconnect.com, the Diaspora is at our fingertips. There’s no more excuses to not mingle with the Armenian community. It’s technology like this that lets us keep up with Armos in society in the comfort of our own home. Warning: Addiction is likely!!!
Sadly, since the printing of this article the owner has gone a little kookoo and started to charge.
'We want our rights to AFS'Why not put your views across on this topic on the Hokis Discussion board?