At any given moment, numerous Berklee students are spending time online on social networking sites counting friends we may or may not know, spying on our ex’s, and doing quizzes that seek to define what residual humanity we have left in this digital generation.
MySpace started the damage for me. When I got tired of fake beautiful women spamming me, I ‘grew up’ and started using Facebook to maintain my connections. After several upgrades, Facebook finally settled on a format that delivers not just to the college kids it was initially meant for, but to the general public—and advertisers.
These sites started a revolution in the way people make resumes, interact, and even date. But what makes us choose where to congregate? It’s only natural for each group of people to want to find a unique place to exchange ideas, get to know each other, and build personality. All of my friends in elementary school hung out at the skating rink every week, and each clique in high school designated an area on campus to eat lunch every day for four years; with the internet opening up a whole world of information to our fingertips, MySpace is our skating rink and Facebook is our lunchtime pow-wow. But which site will be the next bar where everyone knows our name? I guess it depends on what we are looking for in these websites.
Recently, the Groove office was visited by the creator of a brand spanking–new networking site: Corkizon. The Berklee alumnus wanted to pitch his idea to his alma mater. I dutifully set up an account and spent a couple of weeks using the site to compare it to the more established social networks. Corkizon aims to be a network for talented individuals including musicians, artists, filmmakers and even athletes. According to the site’s credo, it is “a resource to share your talent with the world around you. A place to showcase your work and be discovered by it. Instead of focusing entirely on the content, we showcase the creator of the content”. They continue, “The Internet today is growing unimaginably with new users from around the world publishing content each second of the day [...] Corkizon focuses on the person behind the content, and allows that person to show their products and talents to the world. We’re showcasing people and connecting them via their talents”.
While this is a noble goal, it sounds a bit like a place where I set up shop not too long ago: Berkleemusic.com. Berkleemusic.com is a site where all Berklee kids, teachers, and alumni can hang out, trade ideas and find work. I like the site a lot, not only because it’s sponsored by my school, but because there my accolades are working toward something other than online popularity. Facebook keeps track of all the loved ones I left behind. Twitter lets the world know every inconsistent thought to cross my mind. And MySpace—well, MySpace still exists for something, I guess. So what does Corkizon bring to the table? What could it possibly give to the world that all these sites don’t already cover?
Upon setting up my account I noticed the similarities to the sites that inspired Corkizon. The home page shows a user’s clients at the bottom, much like Berkleemusic.com, and the notifications tool bar is ripped right from the front page of Facebook. Corkizon has some unique features as well, such as profiles that are customizable in a limited way. Instead of apps, games, and banners, Corkizon focuses on professionals and cuts to the chase with biography, broadcast information, and personal information among the optional widgets for your page. Each profile can also be rated, but I am still trying to decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing for artists. These aren’t iTunes songs, they’re online representations of real people with real dreams; would you want your talents to be given two out of five stars? However, I did find one button very cool, the donation button. In true musician fashion, you can set up a PayPal account and people can donate money directly to your cause with a click of the mouse.
After spending some time on the site, I am still a bit indifferent to this budding social network. It has all the necessary tools to portray professional information well, with enough extras to keep users interested. The key to this type of website is gaining attention and finding enough users to make the site useful. Facebook reeled in the college kids; MySpace put media in your face; Livejournal connected people through deep intellectual thoughts and feelings; Berkleemusic.com aired our musical abilities. What will Corkizon do for you? The beautiful part about this website is that it is just beginning. It has seen the capabilities and setbacks of previously popular sites and strives to bring some elegance to the table. But the website can’t do it alone; it needs your participation to add spice to the mix. Corkizon is currently open to students and alumni of Berklee, Emerson, and Full Sail University, so head over and create an account. I don’t know if Corkizon will be the next Facebook, but you might end up a part of the next big thing in social networking online. It’s worth a shot to see what they have to offer and support a Berklee graduate, and we musicians can always use a little more exposure.















