The founder of Orkut, the social network that Google shut down in 2014, is testing interest in a revival. In a post on X, Orkut Büyükkökten asked users to visit Orkut.com and add their names in support, and to invite others to join. He has not said whether a new version is already in development or whether it will ever launch.
Büyükkökten framed the potential return as a corrective to today's social media. In a letter on Orkut.com, he criticized the growing influence of algorithms and AI-generated content, writing that AI is dissolving the premise that there is a person on the other side. He called for rebuilding the internet around authentic people, real connection, and genuine belonging.
The original Orkut was launched in 2004 as a Google side project and became especially popular in India and Brazil before losing ground to Facebook. Büyükkökten later founded Hello, a social network for shared interests, which attracted more than 2 million downloads but shut down in 2020. The current effort appears to be at an early stage, with no confirmed product details or timeline.