Bye Bye Orkut!

Farewell, Orkut! A worthy warrior of the social networking revolution

Today, Google officially announced via email that their Orkut service is shutting down. Although we already knew about it, on June 30, 2014, Google declared that their Orkut service (www.orkut.com) will officially shut down on September 30, 2014. Many from the current Facebook generation don’t know that once upon a time, Facebook was nothing compared to Orkut. Orkut was born in January 2004, while Facebook was born in February 2004. In fact, Facebook was one of the last entrants in the social networking world. Orkut wasn’t the first either. Let’s take a brief look at the origins of social media and networking, which have now become integral to our daily lives—even sparking revolutions around the world. This list doesn’t include platforms that came after Facebook.

The idea of computer-based social media emerged in 1979 through Usenet. Several similar initiatives followed successfully. The first bulletin board also appeared that same year. Interestingly, only one person could access the system at a time.

From around 1988, chat and messaging platforms like IRC and ICQ began to appear.

The concept of social networking was introduced in 1997, though it was more like a dating site—not the multifaceted platforms we see today.

Six Degrees was the first modern social network, launched in 1997, allowing users to create profiles and make friends.

Then came Asian Avenue, BlackPlanet, and others.

LiveJournal, a modern blog-style platform, launched in 1999. It was the first site to offer community blogging.

World of Warcraft launched in 2000.

Friendster (friendster.com) launched in 2002, offering many modern features and becoming the first general-purpose social network. It remains popular today.

In June 2003, Hi5 (hi5.com) made history by introducing multi-dimensional privacy options for profiles.

LinkedIn (linkedin.com) was born in 2003 as a business-oriented social network.

MySpace (myspace.com) launched in July 2003 and became the world’s most popular social networking site by 2006.

Facebook (facebook.com) launched in February 2004 exclusively for Harvard University. It later spread to nearby schools and colleges.

Until 2008, Orkut was ahead of Facebook – especially dominant in populous countries like India and Brazil. After 2008, Facebook began to surge globally. Once-popular platforms like MySpace and Hi5 started to fall behind. As Facebook evolved its interface, policies, and features, Orkut began to lag. Privacy was another challenge for Orkut. Even after major privacy updates in 2009, it couldn’t reclaim its past glory. Unable to compete with Facebook, Google introduced Google Buzz and Google Waves – both eventually became dead products. Later, Google Plus gained moderate popularity. Microsoft’s Live Network struggled, and Yahoo’s 360 Degrees was barely relevant.

Several years after the sudden death of Orkut’s developer, his creation is also dying – on September 30 of this year. Orkut was my first social network. In late 2006, when I first got internet access beyond cyber cafés, I somehow stumbled upon Orkut. In 2007, I was a master’s student and working a job. Back then, Orkut was a constant companion. I made many great online friends through Orkut – December Rain being one of the most memorable. Since Jerry was in India, he was part of the country’s most-used network. Due to Facebook’s dull appearance, I barely used it until 2007. Like many others, I gradually drifted away from Orkut starting in 2008