Orkut (Orkut), the popular social network that shut down more than a decade ago, may return to the scene once again. Orkut founder Orkut Büyükkökten has asked users to help the effort to revive it by registering their support on the official Orkut website; although it is still unclear whether a new version of this social network will actually be launched.
On Thursday, Büyükkökten posted on the social network X, asking enthusiasts to visit Orkut.com, register their name in support of the platform's return, and invite others to participate in this action.
This request comes as social networks in recent years have been increasingly affected by content recommendation algorithms, competition for users' attention, and AI-generated content. The Orkut founder believes the internet needs more genuine human connections-connections that, instead of shallow interactions, focus on friendship and a sense of belonging to a community.
How did Orkut become one of the world’s popular social networks?
Orkut was launched in 2004 as a side project by Büyükkökten, then a software engineer at Google. The platform quickly became popular in countries such as Brazil and India and became one of the well-known names of the first generation of social networks.
Orkut users could create personal profiles, add friends to their network, participate in topic-based communities, and connect with others through shared interests. These features made the service part of the early social networking experience for millions of people.
Despite considerable popularity, Orkut gradually lost its position in competition with platforms like Facebook. Google ultimately shut the social network down in September 2014 and focused on other services, including YouTube.
With Orkut's closure, one of the hallmark platforms of the first generation of social networks became inaccessible; but its memory, especially among Brazilian and Indian users, has remained alive.
The Orkut founder’s criticism of today's social networks
In a letter published on Orkut.com, Büyükkökten criticized the path social networks have taken over the past two decades. He expressed particular concern about the increasing role of algorithms and AI-generated content, believing this trend could weaken the human nature of online communications.
He wrote in part of the letter: “AI is an amazing technology, but it is in the process of eliminating the only thing that made social networks special and valuable: that on the other side there is a person.”
The Orkut founder went on to emphasize the need to rebuild an internet where real people, authentic connections, and a sense of belonging to online communities are prioritized.
This view is also a critique of one of the major trends in the digital space: the increasing volume of content and the role of automated systems in selecting what users see. In such an environment, the idea of returning to social networks based on personal connections and smaller communities may appeal to a segment of users.
Previous attempts to return to the social network world
This is not the first time Büyükkökten has tried to create a new experience in social networking. In 2016, two years after Orkut's closure, he launched another platform called “Hello.”
The goal of that service was to connect people based on shared interests and topics. However, Hello failed to reach the popularity of Orkut and was shut down in 2020. Before its closure, the platform had been downloaded more than 2 million times worldwide; a figure that was not comparable to Orkut's reported roughly 300 million active users.
In 2022, Büyükkökten also announced in a note on Orkut.com that he was working on a new idea, but he did not provide specific details about it.
Two years later, in an interview with WIRED magazine, he said he was developing a social network that uses AI and machine learning to bring people together and form communities. However, that platform had not been publicly launched at the time this report was published.
Will a new version of Orkut really be launched?
Büyükkökten’s recent request for users to register their support has raised the possibility of Orkut's return again; but this action alone does not mean the official start of development or release of a new version.
So far he has not provided clear details about the potential features of the platform, the launch timeline, or how the registered supports will be used. It is also unclear whether the aim is to directly revive the Orkut brand or to create a new network inspired by its original philosophy.
The Orkut founder’s request is above all focused on garnering user support and reviving the idea of human connections in the online space.
If this project leads to the launch of a new service, its main challenge will not only be attracting old users; it must also be able to carve out a distinct place in a competitive market and demonstrate how real connections can be maintained alongside new technologies.
At present, Orkut’s return remains a possibility, and its fate will depend on further details from its founder.