The social media platform abandoned by Google since 2004 could make a comeback

A social media platform from Google’s early days has sparked conversations about its return — and no, it’s not Google+. It’s a social network called Orkut, a forum-like platform that allowed users to post statuses, send messages, and connect long before today’s social media platforms were dominated by video content and influencers. Orkut was created by a Google software engineer named Orkut Büyükkökten and was launched in 2004 after the company failed to acquire Friendster, a similar platform, the previous year. Now, around 12 years after its closure, Büyükkökten has posted a call on X encouraging people to share their fan cards to help revive the platform.

If you’ve never used Orkut, you can imagine it as a mix of Reddit’s interest-based forums mixed with a much older Facebook interface, plus the ability to customize your profile with a variety of colorful themes. Because the platform resembled successful competitors at the time, like MySpace and Friendster, it never really took off in the United States. However, Orkut has become particularly popular in Brazil and India, where the former Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer explained that this was because Brazilian users were used to slow internet, while Indian users were filling servers at a time when Western countries were offline. However, with slow development amid the rapid rise of platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter (now X), Google finally shut down Orkut on September 30, 2014.

Büyükkökten’s call to “make the internet human again” appears to be a reaction against the bots and AI-generated content plaguing social media – which many see as part of the dead internet theory. In his open letter, he envisions an online space where humans and true connection remain at the center. “I see a different future for the Internet, a future built around real people, a future with a human on the other side of every message. A future that doesn’t focus on algorithms, eyeballs, and optimizing time on site,” he wrote.

The call for support has since reached more than 332,000 signatures at the time of writing. Despite growing support, the idea has received mixed reactions from former users on social media. One user, @daftari, expressed interest, saying: “I’ve met some of the most amazing people I know, kind of like the early days of Twitter. I’m signing up.” Meanwhile, others aren’t interested in a revival, with user

As new social media platforms continually evolve and add new features, is resurrecting an old platform a solution toward human connection? It’s perhaps a concept to look forward to – even nostalgic – but others might think that this particular format of online interaction may no longer thrive as younger generations take over online spaces. Additionally, it remains unclear whether Orkut will present itself as an app that millennials remember, with its original interface and features, or whether it will incorporate newer technologies such as AI to help the platform thrive.