Some of my friends are on twitter and they have facebook and Linkedin accounts too. But I wonder how many internet users in Maldives really use the power of these channels to their advantage.

It will perhaps be right to say that 75% of internet users in Maldives do not use it maturely. Maybe I am wrong but I don’t think there is enough research done to prove otherwise. I think there is a trust issue when it comes to internet in the Maldives. A friend said he created several anonymous accounts when he first started using internet. He says some people do this because they are still afraid to express freely in the community and some use such fake accounts simply to abuse other users.

It appears that people judge us by the name we use in our online profile or the picture we display for people to see. So, in order to get the trust of others we need to use real names and honest information in our online profiles. My friend Chuckay says, “we are in the age of Google and we should be Google-able. These days if you send a business proposal or apply to a job with an international company, the first thing they do is look you up in the internet. Therefore it is important to be authentic and careful with our online profiles”. He further said, “this will soon become a norm in Maldives too, you will be looked up first on internet before someone decides to call or meet with you”.

I agree with him as I recalled an incident related to some resort employees. Recently, five employees from a top Maldives resort were asked to leave because they were actively involved in promoting negative stories about the resort through a defiant facebook group.

Chuckay also said, “SMS will be history in 5 to 10 years and internet based social networking will rule the world”.