Orkut Could Be Making a Comeback After 12 Years

Orkut, the once-beloved social networking site that ceased operations a decade ago, may be making a resurgence. Its creator, Orkut Büyükkökten, is reaching out to past users to show their backing for the platform's return. In a tweet, Büyükkökten invited people to visit Orkut.com, display their name in support of a revival, and encourage others to do the same.

However, there has been no confirmation about whether a fresh version of Orkut is currently in development, nor a set launch date or assurance that the service will indeed return.

The platform once thrived in the late 2000s, boasting hundreds of millions of users, mainly in Brazil and India. But it eventually lost traction to Facebook. Google officially discontinued Orkut in September 2014, redirecting its focus to other services like Google+ and YouTube. Büyükkökten, in a letter on the platform's site, lamented the evolution of modern social media, arguing that algorithms and AI-generated content have eroded the feeling of connecting with real people.

His vision for a new platform emphasizes genuine connections, relationships, and communities, as opposed to feeds driven by engagement metrics. His last social networking attempt, Hello, reached over 2 million downloads in 2016 but was discontinued in 2020. Despite this, Orkut still holds a significant place in history, having reached around 300 million active users at its height.

Büyükkökten launched Hello in 2016, which reportedly amassed more than 2 million downloads but was shut down in 2020. In 2022, he hinted at a new project that would leverage AI and machine learning to enhance user connections and community building, although that project has yet to materialize. While the latest initiative appears to be more of a call for public support than a confirmed product launch, the platform's website is once again actively encouraging users to sign up, reigniting discussions about the potential return of one of the internet's earliest major social networks.