I wonder which one is the next social networking website that a friend of mine shall send me an invitation to!

Yes, you would perhaps say – not again! Abundance of social networking websites without a cause have resulted in a heavy amount of spam emails. Most websites like Yarri.com, minglebox.com, ibibo.com and more just wanted to be the next facebook, orkut or myspace. Sadly though, they never realized they’re heading no where.

However, a similar website, Linkedin has had an immense growth. The reason being, it had a reason added to it. It solved a problem of uniting people professionally using the internet cloud. There are times when people are not interested in knowing what you like to eat and watch but how proficient have you been at work.

Today, online shopping portal is a growing niche. A lot of websites have come up to sell stuff online, just as ebay started it off. All these have a dedicated shopping cart and a several hundred merchants listed which guarantee a product cheaper than the market. May be just because it happens to be a grey market product and gets shipped without a warranty from the manufacturer.

Uniting social networks and the concept of online shopping, ShopCorn has come up with an exciting platform for internet savvy customers to browse, select, discuss, debate and decide on a product before ordering it via the same window sitting at home!

Shopcorn is a social community based website which intends to provide user generated content in context with a product that’s available for sale on the portal. The idea is to allow a visitor to interact, review, comment and discuss a product with fellow members and friends in the network before finalizing on a product.

The idea is worth a praise. Many a times we remain confused while buying a product online and finally give it away by opting in for the conventional method of purchase. Adding a social angle to online shopping experience would make it convenient for an online shopper to get reviews and direct messages from people who would have bought and used the same product!

The website has a community tab which allows members to create their blogs, get answers to a question they may have for the audience, upload and watch videos, look out for other members, etc. Live T.V. is an interesting feature to check out major T.V. channels.

You may have a genuine question or something as weird as asking the best hotel in Moscow, just get to the Q & A section.

The Deals box showcases some of the best deals running across various sellers. One may keep a tab on this to know what’s hot and what’s cheap! One may check out the challenges which run on the website from time to time. What more? You can create an account and submit a deal as well.

The website also offers an interface to get your railway reservations done and hotel rooms booked. The news section features major news entries from various segments apart from gadgets and technology. All this and more under the hood of a social shopping community! Check out the offerings Shopcorn has before you plan to visit your nearest mall!

Now to Shopcorn, I would recommend verifying the products they display on their portal. A lot of fraudulent sellers display a different product than what they actually deliver. Shall that be a case, it would hamper the portal’s reputation. Most e-shopping websites do not stress on this and provide a disclaimer that they’re not responsible for the items displayed on the portal. Now this is some silly excuse for fake publicity. I would recommend Shopcorn to review the items before displaying them on the portal. This shall ensure the satisfaction of a prospective buyer.

As a part of its launch, Shopcorn is running a bloggers’ contest and as a part of the same, they’re giving away a few wrist watches, a Tata Indicom Photon+ datacard and a 21” LCD T.V.

If you’re still wondering what a Tata Indicom Photon + is, I would give a description of the same. India now has wireless broadband service. Photon + is the very same service from one of India’ leading CDMA operators, TATA Indicom. it provides a revolutionary 3.1 mbps download speed on a wireless connection, on the move. Now downloading audio-video files and streaming them while travelling in a metro train would be a cake walk! With an easy to install option, this device proves to be a must have for bloggers, office goers and travel freaks!

Update: I have won a TATA Photon plus out of this competition. Thanks to shopcorn!