Back in the day, about 10 years ago when I first started working on webpages, all I wanted was my own web portal. But all I knew then was how to get flashing 'welcome' GIFs and add marquees. So I moved on to segmented markets, like movies, games, school etc. And now I have graduated to a whole sub-culture: Desi.

Desi relatively new to me, or may be it's a new phenomenon period, at least for the web. It probably started with people cross posting on soc.culture.pakistan and soc.culture.india on newsgroup servers. Then we had web portals for Indians and Pakistanis (i.e. Gupshup.org) and then finally today we have places like RateDesi which boost a true cross-border memberbase, although most of come from outside their homelands. But the effect is trickling back home, and people from all over are coming together online. That's where my portal comes in: ApnaSpace Desi Network.

Again, not that there's isn't an abundance of Desi Forums, Chat, Picture Rating or Desi Hot-or-Not sites. But, most - I won't say all ;) - of them deserve an F- for design, content and overall quality. The ones that stand out have either been there for a long enough time to attract a healthy audience or they're cloned corporate sites like the Indian Friendfinder. In any case, to me it's fun going into a over saturated market, and seeing how I can fare. It's as challenging as any web project can be, from Google rankings and targeted advertisement to viral marketing. Being a one-man development team sure in a lot of fun.

Posted in Tech Stuff on October 22, 2005 5:36 PM