Orkut Is Not Returning Yet: Founder Pushes For New Social Network

Orkut Büyükkökten has started a petition for a new social network that draws on Orkut’s original focus on people and real relationships. He is not, at this stage, announcing the comeback of the original Orkut website. The appeal is aimed at users who remember the scraps, testimonials and communities that made the platform an early social-media habit for many Indians in the 2000s.

The Times of India reported that Büyükkökten is pushing a new platform built around genuine connections rather than a revival of the old service. Before Instagram, Facebook Reels and influencer culture became part of everyday online life, Orkut was where many users found profile visits, shared interests and some of their first internet friendships.

That distinction is the key point. The current effort is a request for support for a fresh network, not confirmation that the old Orkut site will return. The renewed attention also reflects growing frustration with today’s social-media experience.

Why Google Shut Down

Google launched Orkut in 2004 after Büyükkökten created it while he was working there as a software engineer.

The platform became especially popular in India and Brazil. Users left scraps on one another’s profiles, posted testimonials, joined interest groups and chatted with people they might not have met otherwise. For many, it was where online friendships began.

But the social-media landscape kept shifting. Facebook was expanding fast and drawing people with new ways to post updates and stay in touch. Other platforms were also gaining users, and Orkut fell behind.

Google announced in 2014 that it would shut the service down. The company said YouTube, Blogger and Google+ had grown faster than Orkut. The platform closed on September 30, 2014, ending an era for loyal users.

Who Built Orkut

Büyükkökten is a Turkish software engineer who developed Orkut at Google. According to the BBC, he studied at Bilkent University and later earned a PhD from Stanford University. He also co-founded Hello Network, another social networking venture.

Those details help explain why his latest effort has drawn attention. He is not commenting from the sidelines; he helped create one of the early big social platforms.

His New Vision

Büyükkökten said social media has changed a great deal since Orkut’s first years. In his view, platforms that once helped people meet and build communities now put more weight on keeping users engaged.

In a recent social media 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 wrote.

He has also spoken about artificial intelligence and the growing challenge of telling whether there is a real person behind an online interaction.

His goal is a network centred on shared interests and communities, with more weight on trust, kindness and belonging. He has asked people to sign a petition supporting the idea.

Not A Comeback

There has been no confirmed announcement that the old Orkut website is returning. The petition is instead a bid for support for a new social network inspired by the values behind Orkut.

That may strike a chord with former users. Many people are tired of algorithm-driven feeds, nonstop notifications and the pressure to keep pace with what is trending. Orkut’s renewed popularity says as much about the present mood online as it does about nostalgia.

But public interest is only part of the equation. A petition can show demand, yet creating a network that can compete with established platforms is a much harder task. For now, Orkut remains a memory for millions, even as its founder tests whether that feeling can be recreated in a new form.