State.com Review: An unbiased critique by a first-time user

That's State, the new place for adda

There is this new social platform prancing around in our browsers these days. State.com is thy name. On the face of it, it is just another platform where there is a free interchange of ideas, opinions, statements and desultory talks. But hold your pants, it is a tad different.

So, when BlogAdda entrusted me with this seriously difficult job of exploring ‘State’ for a period of 5 persistent days (no relent there), I was skeptical, even jittery. But five days later, I am more at ease, having earned myself with the knowledge of the site’s strengths and shortcomings.

An initial brush with the site State.com discloses the following pluses and minuses-

Pluses (Pros):

-          Collective global opinion: A near surreal way to figure out what the world thinks of a movie star or of a wrestler or a classic film is to flip through the individual’s profile and check out the adjectives the world has allotted them. For instance, if you try looking up at the global opinions on Miley Cyrus, you are quite likely to stumble on to words like ‘meh’, ‘desperate’ and ‘attention-seeking’ or an occasional ‘talented’ and ‘hot’.

-          Networking: An individual user can network with like-minded people; something which is the strongest characteristic of State.com. So, when I searched for DH Lawrence or for Kate Winslet (two people I really admire), I was instantly directed by the automated spider to pose my questions and queries before an audience which despite my unfamiliarity seemed appropriate for these personalities. In short, State.com lets you connect with people (from around the world) who share your passions, aspirations, fondness, apathy and even loathing for something or someone.

-          Every opinion matters: In case you have a negligible network of ‘friends’ or ‘followers’ in those other popular social profiles (recall the f-word and the t-word), even your most eloquent statuses and tweets are likely to suffer neglect due to dearth of visibility. But even the most insignificant of your opinions matters at State.com where your one-word description for anything or anyone contributes to the thing or the person’s overall image. In short, your opinion MATTERS!

-          Content search: Finding new content is a child’s play because of the tailor-made search bar. So, when I searched for my favorite actress Ileana D’Cruz, the spider sensed my thoughts (ahem..) and offered the correct suggestion the moment I typed ‘Ilea

-          Ease of accessibility: Laptops are going the same way where desktops went. So, even if you belong to that category of homo sapiens which likes to flick out their tablets and phones instead of huffing and puffing with giant monitors, State.com will be a few taps (or clicks, the way you want) away. In short, easy to access!

-          Sharing is Sexy: As they say, sharing is sexy (but not of course if it’s an Agatha Christie novel). At State, you not just state but also share it across to other platforms. So, if you are really pumped up to give that long-due harangue to your most detestable pop singer, you can let your battalion of friends read what you wrote. Also, it brings you more friends (from around the world) coz I feel that ‘best friendships are formed when two people find in each other a common loathing for a common man’.

-          Sentiment range: This is something which is really helpful in gauging out the eclectic range of sentiments in favor of or against something or someone. So, if you find Dolly Parton ‘emotional’, State lets you see what percent of people share this same sentiment and what percent share other multifarious sentiments. However, at times, there can be confusion as words like ‘emotional’, ‘sad’ and ‘blissful’ may overlap with each other and truncate each other’s percentage despite meaning almost the same thing.

This YouTube video spills all info about 'State.com' in a manner more bearable than my lengthy discourse :)

Minuses (Cons):

-          May not get BIG in India: On the flipside, State.com may fail to adapt to the Indian conditions. Not everything that works in America works in India (Digg.com and MySpace.com vouch for that). In this country, the job-doers are more at ease at those social sites (recollect the f-word and the t-word again) where they can blab and chatter with people whom they know in ‘real’. Indian women, for instance, give precedence to people who share the same geography than to people who share the same hobbies. State.com can work but only if it brings your neighbors, your office-employees and all your ex-college crushes and possibly even your apartment’s janitor together under one single STATEly roof.

-          Needs patience: Being fed with social platforms which give instant entertainment and connectivity, some people may find State’s module a tad sluggish. It can take time to build a network and so those fellows who lack what we call ‘patience’ may not be too rejoiced at the idea of setting up a State profile.

But having said that, State lets you log in using your f-profiles and t-profiles. So, you don’t necessarily have to fill up those tedious forms and register using your mail. It also gives you the opportunity to invite all your friends, enemies, crushes and ex-crushes from those f-and-t profile of yours.

Some features which are good without being great:

a.      User Interface- It’s okay, it’s acceptable but not as captivating or hooking as one would have desired.

b.      Tuning in: You can tune in to someone and get tuned by others. Another feature which is a tad overrated.

c.       Top words groups: This is a sort of micro dictionary that enables you to choose the most appropriate word for a person or a thing out of a group of words. At times, you may fail to find the precise word and even though you are free to add your own, it is unfortunate that people today lack patience and vocabulary to do the needful.

Overall, State may never reach the status of a cult social site, but it has the capability of becoming the favorite networking platform of its ardent users. But then, if cards fall into places, it can triumph over others and become a marquee venue for sharing opinions, receiving knowledge and saying your ‘say’.

-Ritesh Agarwal

State.com profile: https://state.com/u/ritzychoclate

And yes, there’s lots of Harry Potter and vampire stuff going on there (almost a constant amongst trending topics). So, you too can dig your wands and fangs in.