Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 11: Could Orkut, once one of India’s most popular social networking platforms, make a comeback? Its founder, Orkut Büyükkökten, is seeking public support for a new social network that prioritises genuine human connections, friendship and communities over likes, views and endless scrolling.
An online petition launched by Büyükkökten, a Turkish software engineer who developed Orkut while working at Google, has reportedly received support from more than 2.7 lac people across 115 countries. The campaign invites people to register their support through Orkut’s official website.
However, the initiative does not mean that the original Orkut website is returning. No official launch date has been announced. Instead, Büyükkökten hopes to recreate the spirit of the platform through a new social network built around meaningful relationships, shared interests and trust.
For millions of Indians who used Orkut in the 2000s, the prospect of its revival brings back memories of scraps, testimonials, online communities and the excitement of checking who had visited their profiles. Long before Instagram Reels and influencer culture became part of everyday life, Orkut offered users a different way to meet people and maintain friendships online.
Why does Orkut’s founder want a new social network?
Büyükkökten believes social media platforms have moved away from their original purpose of helping people discover new friends, build connections and form communities. In his view, platforms that once encouraged meaningful interactions are increasingly designed to keep users online for longer and generate advertising revenue.
Reflecting on the transformation of social media in a recent post, he wrote: “Two decades ago, I helped build some of the earliest social networks. Since then, I've watched us spend twenty years optimizing the internet for attention, with feeds that hook us instead of helping us.”
He believes algorithm-driven feeds increasingly prioritise attention-grabbing content over genuine interactions. Rather than helping people establish meaningful relationships, these systems often encourage users to spend more time scrolling through content selected to hold their attention.
In the early days of social networking, communicating with strangers in distant countries and discovering people with similar interests was an exciting experience. Today, algorithms influence what users see, while constant notifications and the pressure to keep up with trending content have changed how people interact online.
Büyükkökten has also expressed concern about excessive social media use among children and young people. He believes growing dependence on these platforms could contribute to problems such as loneliness and depression.
His vision is to create a network that places greater emphasis on authentic human connections, friendship, kindness, trust and a sense of belonging. Rather than encouraging people to spend more time in front of screens, the proposed platform would aim to help them build meaningful relationships through shared interests and communities.
AI raises concerns about online trust
The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) is another concern for Büyükkökten. With AI-generated images, videos and messages becoming increasingly common, it can sometimes be difficult to determine whether an online interaction involves a real person or a bot created using artificial intelligence.
This uncertainty could undermine trust and transparency on the internet. Büyükkökten believes social networking platforms should place greater emphasis on authentic interactions and make it easier for people to connect with real individuals.
The proposed network aims to offer an alternative to engagement-driven social media by putting people and their relationships at the centre of the online experience.
The petition seeks to gauge public support for this approach. Although the response indicates interest in the idea, whether the initiative will develop into a fully operational platform remains uncertain.
Why did Google shut down Orkut?
Launched by Google in 2004, Orkut was developed by Büyükkökten while he was working as a software engineer at the technology company. It soon became particularly popular in India and Brazil, where it attracted large communities of users.
Orkut was more than a platform for adding friends. Users could leave scraps on one another’s profiles, write testimonials, create personal pages, share messages and join communities based on common interests. They could participate in discussions and interact with people they might never otherwise have met. For many users, it was where their online friendships began.
However, the social networking landscape changed rapidly as Facebook expanded and offered new ways to share updates and connect with friends. Other online platforms also attracted growing audiences, leaving Orkut struggling to keep pace with the competition.
In 2014, Google announced that it would discontinue the service, explaining that other communities, including YouTube, Blogger and Google+, had grown faster than Orkut.
The platform officially shut down on September 30, 2014, ending a decade-long run and leaving millions of loyal users with memories of a different era of the internet.
Who is Orkut Büyükkökten?
Büyükkökten is a Turkish software engineer who created Orkut while working at Google. He studied at Bilkent University in Turkey before earning a PhD from Stanford University in the United States.
He later co-founded Hello Network, another social networking venture. Through his latest initiative, he hopes to revisit the idea behind Orkut’s original appeal: bringing people together online without making every interaction revolve around likes, views or the time spent scrolling through feeds.
Is Orkut really making a comeback?
Not yet. Despite the petition reportedly attracting more than 2.7 lakh supporters from 115 countries, there has been no confirmed announcement that the original Orkut website, with its familiar profiles and communities, will return. No official launch date has been announced either.
The campaign is focused on building a new social network inspired by Orkut’s original values, rather than restoring the discontinued website. Whether it develops into a functioning platform capable of competing with established social media services remains to be seen.
The challenge will be to translate public interest into a sustainable platform in an online environment dominated by established companies and algorithm-driven services. A petition may demonstrate enthusiasm for the concept, but building a successful social network requires more than nostalgia.
Nevertheless, the response highlights a broader debate about what users want from social media. Many have grown tired of algorithm-driven feeds, constant notifications and the pressure to keep up with trends. For those who used Orkut, the platform represents a time when online networking often centred on friendships, conversations and shared interests.
Büyükkökten now hopes to discover whether that experience can be recreated for a new generation. For the moment, Orkut’s return remains uncertain, but the campaign has reopened the question of whether a simpler, more personal approach to social networking can find a place in today’s digital world.