THE SOCIAL PLATFORMS
FLICKR
Flickr is an image and video hosting website used by photo researchers and bloggers to host images that they post on blogs and social media. When it comes to photo sharing, Flickr is, without doubt, the 10-tonne gorilla in the room.
You can: Share your photos with friends, family and categorised communities of other camera wielders around the world, for free. Flickr allows its users to link a single image, or a group of images, almost anywhere across the web with subject-identifying tags. You can group individual images into categories like landscapes, animals, people and still life. If you want to share nearly each and every snap on the SD card, then Flickr is the right place for you.
The highs: Flickr maintains the resolution of the original picture, which is usually compressed while uploading on other social media sites. You can even post links of pictures on Facebook, so it is not like you lose out on your Facebook audience.
The die-hards:
“The inherent picture quality remains intact on Flickr since there is no image compression. For quick share and clear view, Flickr is one of the most useful forums to upload pictures. With its large cloud storage capacity and careful handling of uploaded pictures, Flickr is very helpful for showcasing pictures. The user interface is smooth and attractive for surfing photos,” said Bodhisattwa Majumdar, a final-year engineering student of Jadavpur University.
“Flickr is a brilliant platform for photography enthusiasts like us as you get to upload your portfolio here, as well as view portfolios of renowned photographers like Steve McCury, Dave Brosha, Mikko Lagerstedt, which helps us to learn more. It’s a social platform for photographers where people leave useful comments,” said Aritra Banerjee, third-year, Institute of Engineering and Management, Salt Lake.
GOODREADS
Goodreads is a boon for every book lover. It is a social cataloging website that allows individuals to freely search Goodreads’s extensive database of books, annotations and reviews.
You can: Look up the Goodreads database for reviews of books you have heard about. Users can sign up and generate library catalogues and reading lists. They can also create their own groups for book suggestions and discussions. You can post your reviews, recommend books to others and even have your questions selected for author interactions.
The highs: It is the best place to take refuge when you are confused about what to read. Check out the recommendation lists that the site generates for you, depending on the books you have marked as ‘read’ or ‘want to read’, plus the huge number of reviews.
The die-hards:
“I joined Goodreads in 2012. I make it a point to check it every other day because I can keep track of all the books I have read and/or want to read. And whenever I am in a dilemma about which book to buy next, I can open Goodreads and check the approximate rating given to the particular book(s) by readers worldwide,” said Adreja Mukherji, a postgraduate student of Presidency University.
“As cliched as it sounds, I live on books. I joined Goodreads to find quality books. It’s a kind of window shopping for me. I have come across many books on Goodreads, which I now treasure. Recently, Goodreads introduced me to Joanne Harris, and I recommend her work to everybody,” said Madhura Banerjee, first-year, computer science, St. Xavier’s College.
QUORA
If you have a question you need answered, then get out of Facebook and sign on to Quora. This is a Q&A website where questions on various topics — from education to career to pop culture and relationships — are asked, answered and edited by its community of users.
You can: Set up your account or log in via your Google or Facebook accounts. You can choose to “follow” topics that interest you — think psychology, economy and science to photography, fiction, entertainment, sci-fi and sitcoms. Once you post your question, other users reply to it and they take it seriously. You can, in turn, answer someone else’s question and be a part of the discussions.
The highs: You get to learn a lot of things in a constructive manner, which is almost impossible on Facebook. Unlike other Q&A platforms, Quora incorporates the aspect of “gamification” where a user is rewarded with credits for providing a quality answer. These credits can be used to directly ask the experts a question.You can get Joshua Engel (founder and senior software developer at Highfleet Inc) to answer your questions. Quiz Robert Frost (engineer and instructor at NASA) on space and talk finance with Balaji Viswanathan (a teacher and product manager). This is unique to Quora.
The die-hards:
“Quora has a diverse range of topics and you can get answers to whatever question you have on your mind. Unlike Facebook, I never feel like I have wasted my time on it. It serves as my reading material on any random topic. I get better answers on Quora than from Wikipedia or Google, because it also has opinions and life experiences of people,” said Vedika Modi, second-year, English honours, Shri Shikshayatan College.
“I joined Quora out of curiosity but soon a post on ‘Why most Indians don’t use toilet paper?’ got me hooked. Instead of random Wikipedia links, on Quora I found an intellectually strong community discussing questions I had on my mind. It is a group of people addressing a range of issues, from making lemonade to dodging grenades. Quora is the logical alternative to social networking sites,” said Avinandan Mondal, an MBBS student of College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital.
This is the place to be if you feel that what you want to say is best captured in pictures. Pinterest is a place where the pictures you “pin” says a lot about you — your interests and aspirations.
You can: Create and share your collection of “boards” or visual bookmarks. Users save and share pins from multiple resources on to boards based on a plethora of criteria, like similar characteristics, a theme, birthday parties, writing a book, interior decoration and holidays. Boards can be used to develop projects, organise events, or save pictures. Instead of clicking pictures yourself or uploading pictures, you get to “pin” pictures from various sites and create your own boards.
The highs: Pinterest offers a visual discovery, collection, sharing and storage tool. You can learn a lot from browsing other users’ boards. It taps into a very fundamental human behaviour — the desire to collect things.
The die-hards:“Pinterest is all about procrastination. I have been using this application for the past three years and have pinned more than 1,000 pictures. I use Pinterest daily. I mostly pin quotes, shoes, hairstyles, dresses, make-up hacks, fandom-based stuff, travelling and photography. There are so many DIY hacks that I have learnt from this site,” said Sharba Tasneem, third-year, economics honours, Shri Shikshayatan College.
“I started using Pinterest just to see a lot of new pictures. I have four boards — ‘things to learn’ which has things I aspire to, ‘things to own’ has super bikes and cars as I am an automobile maniac, ‘things to try’ includes the beard styles and tattoos I intend to get, and ‘places to visit’ where I pin the most as I love to travel. I get to see a lot of new pictures of amazing places and mean machines,” said Anamitra Ghosh, a second-year engineering student of Adamas Institute of Technology.
500px
This is an online photography community that caters to aspiring and professional photographers, where they upload their work and showcase it to the world.
You can: Rate your worth as a photographer with 500px’s “pulse”. The pulse of a photo is a score on a scale of 0-100. A photo’s pulse count depends on likes, favourites, views and comments that it gets. Photos initially go to the “fresh” category. Once a photo gets a pulse score of 75, it is promoted to the “upcoming” category. Once the score is close to 90, it is promoted to “popular”. If a photo stays in the popular category for a while it may end up in the “editor’s choice” category. You can buy and sell photographs on this site too.
The highs: You gain exposure, find inspiration and connect with other shutterbugs.
The die-hards:“I use 500px because it allows me to share photographs and socialise with other photographers globally. Facebook ruins the picture resolution but 500px uploads high-resolution photos. It also hosts monthly and daily contests. You get all the details of every photograph, starting from EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) data to the location of the photographs and gears used,” said Agniprava Nath, an ex-student of Apeejay School, Park Street.
“500px has everything an aspiring photographer could need. Users from all over the world comment on your work or ‘vote’ them, which is an excellent evaluation for photographers. The recently added ‘Groups’ feature lets you ask questions, discuss photos, share experiences, and learn from other members,” said Abhranil Munsi, a Class XII student of G.D. Birla Center for Education.
LINKEDIN
Looking for internships? Searching for jobs? LinkedIn is the place to be. A business-oriented social networking service, LinkedIn is the place to meet and connect with prospective employers.
You can: Create your own profile and build up your professional connections online. Choose who you want to connect with carefully as they are key to getting noticed by people in the professions you want to join.
The highs: Users can find jobs and business opportunities recommended by someone in one’s contact network. Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them. It gives you a chance to network with people you might not normally meet.
The die-hards:“It’s deemed as a credible online platform by many companies and their prospective employees for the purpose of recruitment. For students it is particularly helpful because LinkedIn allows you to list your skills and achievements. And if you have been endorsed or recommended by someone, like a professor or an employer, it lends you credibility,” said Annesha Ghosh, a postgraduate English student of University of Calcutta.
THE MONEY APPS
PAYTM
The Paytm app is mostly used for online mobile recharge, DTH recharge, data card recharge, as well as to pay mobile and utility bills and even shop online.
Available at: Android Play Store, The Apple Store, Microsoft Store.
Size: 8.43MB.
Price: Free.
Log in: Using Google or Facebook account.
How to use it: Recharge in three steps —
1. Enter details of recharge required (Eg: for mobile recharge, enter your number, operator and amount)
2. Choose coupons (optional)
3. Choose payment option (debit card, credit card, Net banking, American Express card)
4. After being taken to the payment page, fill in the necessary details, and you’re done!
Why we use it:
1. It doesn’t matter which network provider you are using, with Paytm you can recharge all of them from one place.
2. The Paytm Wallet, a secure digital wallet where you can store money, is a boon for those who don’t have cards. You can use it to make quick recharges, pay bills and shop. You can also send money to friends and pay for services like Uber, MakeMyTrip and BookMyShow.
3. You get discount coupons on every recharge and cashbacks on paying via Paytm.
4. If you are shopping on Paytm, you can bargain with the seller to get a reduced priced or a heavy discount just like in bazaars!
Users:
“Paytm is my favourite 24x7 online recharge site. Not only mobile recharges, Paytm is a kind of a personal mini bank for shopping on different websites. Paytm has been a saviour on Sundays when the recharge shops were shut,” said Bishal Chakraborty, a second-year media science student of NSHM Institute of Media and Communication.
“I started using Paytm because very often I would run out of balance in the middle of the night, halfway through a conversation, and bug people to transfer balance to my phone. Now I can recharge as and when I want, plus I get to avail Uber thanks to it,” said Asmita Nandy, a second-year political science student of Loreto College.
FREECHARGE
Freecharge is a fast, free and secure online mobile application for prepaid mobile recharges, postpaid bill payments and DTH recharges.
Size: 3.37MB.
Available at: Android Play Store, The Apple Store, Microsoft Store.
Price: Free.
Log in: By creating a personal account or by loging in via your Facebook or Google+ account.
How to use it:
1. Enter your number, operator and amount.
2. Choose coupons (optional).
3. Confirm the order.
4. Enter Promo code (optional).
5. Complete payment using Net banking, credit card or debit card.
Why we use it:
1. It works very fast. Transaction takes no more than 10 seconds as promised.
2. There are a number of offers from places like CCD, McDonald’s and PVR in terms of discount coupons.
3. The everyday discount coupons and cash-back are an added bonus.
Users:
“I have been using this app for quite some time now and I save money with it because of all the coupons and cash-back offers,” said Antra Gupta, a third-year BCA student of Shri Shikshayatan College.“Initially, online transactions using Net banking and debit cards used to scare me. But ever since I started using Freecharge, I stopped worrying. Not only does it offer discounts on recharges and payments, it also provides discount coupons on McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, CCD, which is brilliant,” said Mohit Kanoria, a third-year BCA student of Institute of Engineering and Management.
MOBIKWIK
An online mobile recharge app for prepaid mobile recharges, postpaid bill payments, DTH recharges, online shopping for various sites and money transfer.
Size: 1.60MB.
Available at: Android Play Store, The Apple Store, Microsoft Store.
Price: Free.
Log in: Using your email ID.
How to use it:
1. Enter number, operator and recharge amount.
2. Choose coupons. MobiKwik directly completes the recharge if there is any amount left in your MobiKwik wallet.
3. Complete your payment using credit card, debit Card or Net banking options.
Why we use it:
1. It’s a smaller size compared to the other applications.
2. You can transfer money to anyone just by entering their mobile number or email ID.
3. To shop online on various websites and avail exclusive offers.
Users:
“By using MobiKwik wallet, I get good discounts and cash-back. It had some average reviews but I am very happy with the services. MobiKwik has not failed me yet,” said Aman Gupta, a first-year student of IIHM.
“MobiKwik offers cash-back on depositing cash in the MobiKwik wallet. They also offer cash-back if you use their online payment options on websites like Shop Clues, eBay and American Swan. I have always got 10-15 per cent cash-back each time. The app is user friendly and offers good customer support. I have also got discounts on bill payments and cash deposit,” said Neha Gupta, a first-year student of NIFT.
