Red Vs. Green

Most of us use Google talk (Gtalk). Gtalk’s assumption is that if you are not idle, then you are either available or busy. At times, when I actually am idle, I wonder how true this assumption is!

Do I think for a second, before buzzing someone if I want to (or need to), whether he/she is busy or available? No, I never do that.

Being busy and still being online could happen on rare occasions. You know, like at times when you are chatting something very serious with one person, and really don’t want others to disturb you. But it certainly isn’t a regular case. In fact, if you are online, you can safely be assumed to be jobless.

If you go have a look at your friends list on Gtalk, you will notice that the probability of any of your non-idle friend being available or busy is almost 1/2 (0.5). How do you explain that?

I just had a look at my friend list on Gtalk and here’s the data:

• Available: 26
• Busy : 24
• Idle : 45

If you have noticed, those who move from green to red, usually continue with it. Those who never bothered to move to red, keep continuing with green. This can be explained.

When you actually are busy for the first time, and you have never bothered to use this red-dot, you feel like trying it.
It makes you believe that once you have moved to this red dot, everyone will automatically conclude that you are busy. And so, you take that big step. But only to realize that, it was a stupid thing to do. No one gives a damn to the color of the dot that accompanies your name in their list as long as it is not orange. But, you suddenly happen to like the red color more than the green. Afterall, who doesn’t like to be busy eh? And now when you know that the world doesn’t care about the color of the dot anyway, you fail to see the point in going back to green. Red stays.

What about people who go back to green?

At times, you are very jobless. You have nothing to do. Your Gtalk window is open. You wish somebody buzzed you but no one does so. And then, suddenly, you wonder. Is it because of the red dot? Shit, I should come down to meri aukaat, and give respect to green. And there you go. Greenery is restored. But frankly speaking, it’s just a case of despomaniac behaviour. You had already concluded once upon a time that color doesn’t matter, but out of sheer desperation you force yourself to think otherwise!

I would rather have different colors to choose from, say ten of them, so that I can put whatever color I want to. Every color would reach out to my friends and convey different messages. For example, a blue colored dot would tell them that I am loving blue color at that point of time, or a burgundy colored dot would tell that I suddenly like burgundy more than blue or anything else. 😛