For the 3,00,000 strong A R Rahman Fans community in Orkut, virtual space is for meeting and organising. The community is used as a platform for the planning of their outdoor activities, which include free food distribution for the poor, concerts, and aid for the disabled kids. It also serves as a platform for raising money for these charity works by selling Rahman tees, Pray for me Brother colourbooks, etc. What this also says is that fan sites have marketing potential which could be manipulated.
A speck of the spotlight Fans themselves come under the spotlight as they rally support from their communities to help their stars shoot high in online polls. Adding to these are the numerous games related to the stars that are available online. An SRK application in Facebook has 624 monthly active users, while another game on Aamir Khan attracts 205 users every month. As a fan flaunts her pics with the star, much to the envy of others, or another one brings out a link to a rare snippet on the star, the fan too gets a share of the star's glamour. It's all about show biz, indeed! The real-time fans associations Charity seems to be the catchword for the real-time fans associations, when not in their "cut-out" mode. Nagarjuna fans organise tree plantations and other charity works while Balakrishna fans caught attention with their generous Rs 5 lakh donation to the Indo American Cancer Organisation. Education and medical aid are the concerns of NTR Fans too. Chiranjeevi fans run a blood bank, but they have more business to do in the coming days. Who's the strongest? On Orkut: A R Rahman Fans 3,81,313 The Shahrukh Khan Fan Club 3,35,557 Aamir "The Ace" Khan 1,52,974 Megastar Chiranjeevi 1,05,192 John Abraham 1,04,521 Salman Khan 1,02,963 Nandamuri Balakrishna 72,811 Super Star Rajinikanth 63,451 On Facebook: Shahrukh (King) Khan 20,947 Aamir Khan 19,143 A R Rahman 12,931 http://telugucinemass.blogspot.com/2008/08/shahrukh-r-rahman-chiru-amithab-whos.html -- regards, Vithur ARR -- The Sweet Cube always
