I have this unusual addiction of filling up personal information in online communities like Myspace and Friendster. I’ve signed up twice in Myspace and deleted the first account. The present profile I have in Friendster is my fourth account. Meeting odd people and talking about myself by responding to their messages is the only thing I hate about online communities. It feels different to have my own profile page but interacting with strangers is disturbing, unless that friend on my list looks decent and doesn‘t intend to meet me personally. I only have few friends in Friendster and those who are in my list of friends are people I already know and still would love to get in touch with. While Friendster became a good way to reacquaint with old friends, I only use Myspace to freely hear songs of the bands I love. I experienced the speed of expanding my network so I invited and accepted the funniest and the most interesting Myspace users like Dobby the house elf from the Harry Potter books where Myspace became his place to show off his musical skills.

TakingItGlobal is different. People are here to learn and that’s what I love most about TIG. I may not be the user who actively posts on discussion forums but I learn a lot just by reading everyone’s profiles, blogs and just by looking around the site. As what I have written on my profile page, our differences greatly interest me. I’m proud to belong in an online community that is completely not a dating site but for people of all nations to be involved in making this world a safe and enjoying place to live in despite the differences in our languages and beliefs.

I have just been rewarded with a Yahoo! Answers desktop wallpaper for reaching level 2 and I’m still working on earning more quest items for a game administrator. I need to search for more intelligible questions and produce a helpful answer to move on to the next level, and if I get lucky, I might be rewarded with large extra points for giving the best answer. Killing more animated creatures in the game will increase my ability points and earning more skills will require me to hunt more monsters to kill.

Checking the Yahoo! Answers page is the first thing I get myself involved with from the moment I wake up. This has been a routine for a week now, and I became more alert on deciding and foreseeing how my day will be different. As a Yahoo! Answers participant, it’s so natural to encounter dumb questions everyday. This is the main reason why Yahoo! users who are ready to share their knowledge are becoming more patient in searching for questions that really need their attention, although points can still be earned for responding to stupid questions. They will spend minutes or hours on the computer to answer good questions and rate and vote for as many best answers as they can. You will think that this activity is a waste of time only if you are one of the bored who submit questions simply to mess the decent section of Yahoo! . No one will win money in this activity but you will surely learn things that were unimportant to you. I have not known the importance of Trigonometry until someone enumerated all the professions that requires a sharp knowledge in this subject. You can ask anything and even get help for your homework. I asked a few questions and I’m truly satisfied with their answers. Viewing the Yahoo! Answers page in the morning is not different from hollering “Good morning” to family members who are still asleep, but only through Yahoo! Answers will you make your groggy brain instantly work when you spot a very catchy question.

From being a 3d MMORPG and a strategy game fan, my body has requested the joy of playing a 2d game since it doesn’t punish your arms and hands for harshly clicking on the mouse buttons for long hours. The best games cost too much, another reason for me to go back to a kiddy game and be stuck with adolescent aged players. But whatever game I decide to subscribe to or play for free in the future , it’s always a great deal to brag that I’ve played it and have reached a high level before cutting myself from the game. Such games never interfered with my study. Playing long hours on the computer lets my mind travel somewhere I have never imagined could exist or if I am not for the adventure, I’ll be there to spoof on new players. It takes days and more skills to collect whatever your characters need for upgrading. I usually bring these games in my sleep, and life to me became more of an adventure and a will to survive rather than waking up early because the school bus might leave you. The word “level” is always present in any game whether the game you are playing uses the word “rank” instead. You spend time and money to raise your status, isn’t this what we usually do in real life?

I wasn’t confused by the demands of reality being compared to the pleasures of gaming. Leveling up and moving on are almost the same, but raising one’s level in any aspect requires improvement and sometimes change. Submitting a large percentage of your life to raise your price is not a waste of time for in this process you mostly find the value of everything around you. I will continue on answering questions and learning from the resolved questions in Yahoo! Answers. If needed, I will even research for the most informative answer to contribute. What I’m using my time with is just an alternative and more fun way to practice what life has obliged us to do. You will still work in the office and even demand a raise or promotion for your dedication. The best will hunt for the highest paying jobs which their degrees have promised to give. And the young will continue to develop better games to outdone the existing good ones.

Never did I end a game with a failed mission. I have battled in my entire life and have always rested with a smile and I can‘t remember wasting a single tick of the clock. After a lifetime of leveling up, the longest rest should never be feared.