In a world dominated by social media giants, the former founder of Orkut continues to nurture the hope of a social media utopia. Despite past challenges and failures, his determination remains intact. Let’s discover what drives him to persevere.
The Beginning of Orkut
Even before the launch of Orkut in January 2004, Büyükkökten had warned the team that the platform he had built could only handle 200,000 users. “They said, let’s launch it and see what happens,” he explains. The rest is online history. “It grew so fast. Before we even realized it, we had millions of users,” he says.
The Concept of Orkut
Orkut stood out for its digital scrapbook and the ability to compliment people (ranging from “trustworthy” to “sexy”), to create communities, and to curate one’s own list of crushes. “It reflected all my personality traits. You could flatter people by saying how cool they were, but you could never say anything negative about them,” he asserts.
The Technical Challenges
In its early days, Orkut was popular in the United States and Japan. But, as expected, server issues eventually severed the platform’s connection with its users. “We started to have a lot of scalability and infrastructure problems,” recalls Büyükkökten. They were forced to rewrite the entire platform using C++, Java, and Google’s tools, a process that took a whole year. Due to the slowness, many original users dropped off.
The International Success
Despite the technical challenges, Orkut continued to spread around the world. In addition to exploding in Estonia, the platform had monumental success in India, but it was in Brazil that it truly found its second home. “It was a massive success. Many think I am Brazilian because of that,” notes Büyükkökten. Brazilian culture is very welcoming and friendly, which facilitated Orkut’s massive adoption.
Content Issues and Decline
Orkut was not without issues. The site was banned in Iran and the United Arab Emirates, and authorities in Brazil and India were concerned about drug-related content and child pornography, although Büyükkökten denies these accusations. In 2014, after losing users due to slow servers, Facebook’s more intuitive interface, and privacy concerns, Orkut went offline.
Warm Memories
Despite the end of Orkut, Büyükkökten holds warm memories of the platform’s positive impact. “We had so many stories of people falling in love and moving in together from different parts of the world,” he says. Orkut also provided a platform for minority communities, transforming the lives of many users, such as a gay journalist from a small town in São Paulo.
The Dream of a New Social Utopia
After leaving Google in 2014, Büyükkökten founded a new social network, Hello, focused on positive connections. The app was soft-launched in Brazil in 2018 with 2 million users and experienced “ultra-high engagement.” Although Hello also eventually shut down, Büyükkökten does not give up on his dream.
The Next Chapter
Currently, Büyükkökten is working on a new platform that will use artificial intelligence to optimize happiness, bring people together, and create a better society. “Connection will be the cornerstone of design, interaction, product, and experience,” he says. For him, optimism is more important than optimization, and he aspires to a social media utopia, marked by love and genuine encounters among people.
Despite past challenges, Büyükkökten remains excited and optimistic. “One thing is really constant; people are missing Orkut right now,” he concludes. Perhaps it’s time for Orkut’s “second coming.”
