Russia: Drug Drugu, Wish Fulfillment via Social Networks · Global Voices
Teplitsa

Drug Drugu [ru] (“To One Another”) is a service that works with the wishes of users. Community members can not only request some kind of help, but also offer their own. The resource's operating principle is very simple: a user leaves a message in the appropriate category, assigns it a category, location, and image, and waits for another community member to response.
Users’ activity is centered around two buttons: “They Want” and “They Can.” All public messages begin with these phrases. Using this function, everyone can express their own wishes and offers.For instance, Alexandra Tryapitsyna writes:
Я хочу научиться петь джаз, очень-очень. Чувство ритма — есть. Голос и слух — не знаю. Слух вроде есть, но себя я не слышу, когда пытаюсь что-то повторить. Кажется, что не попадаю. А всё от того, что голосом управлять не умею. Ну, я так думаю. Помогите!!!
Home page of the site
One needs only an account on Facebook or Vkontakte to become a member of the community. On the profile pages of users, statistics of requests and offers are collected (such as: what she could do, what she wanted, whom she thanked, who thanked her, etcetera). A user's activity on Drug Drugu is published to either Facebook or Vkontakte, if she so chooses.
Thanks and frubles (a neologism composed of the words “friend” and “ruble“) are the only convertible currency on Drug Drugu. With the help of frubles, users can reward other members of the community. Accumulated “capital” can be exchanged at the project's store for certificates redeemable at the Russian online store “Ozon.” Site administrators temporarily suspended this service, however, as it was not popular among users.