iTimes another social networking site with John Abraham difference

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Indiatimes, one of the largest media house in India officially launched iTimes today with profiles of celebrities like John Abraham.

If you are one of his fans who always wanted him on Orkut, but got lost in the fake profiles, then sign up on iTimes to socialize with “real” him.

It is apparently difficult to foray into social networking business. Especially when there is so much competition with sites like Orkut [review], BigAdda, ibibo and FaceBook.

Also read: Make money online with Mahalo Answers

iTimes Vs ibibo Vs BigAdda (Indian Context)
We can consider only these two sites as iTimes competitor BigAdda and ibibo (as they are primarily serving Indian audience).

Though ibibo with it’s large user base and attractive promotions and contests can give a tough fight. But still, iTimes will have an advantage even if it relatively new because of it’s backing from Indiatimes.

Read: Orkut is the Google of social networking

The Indiatimes Advantage
The advantage iTimes has is it is backed up with the power of it’s parent company Indiatimes which is the most popular newspaper in India. Hence, there are easy chances that with promotions in the newspaper as a news article it may attract visitors.

Like i said, celebrities like Aamir Khan, John Abraham, Karishma Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty and Art of living guru Shri Shri Ravi Shankar has already started socializing on the website either through a blog or in the forums.

Can celebrities influence social networking than functionality?
BigAdda had Amitabh Bacchan blogging on their website[Big b Blog], which can be considered as a promotion tool to attract more fans on the website.

Still, BigAdda could not get as popular as other global sites like FaceBook and MySpace.

Read: Make money online blogging

Can celebrity endorsement and promotions rule over technology?
It would be interesting to see, if iTimes can attract Indians and compete with other popular global networking sites like Orkut and Facebook which are more efficient and robust in technology.