Marking the end of the first half of the year, Google officially announced that it is taking down its first social networking baby, Orkut. Back then – a decade ago – Orkut was the thing; but we know how the Internet landscape changes, and Orkut was really only a “20 percent” project for the Google guys.
With the explosion of other platforms, Google has had to focus on their other products such as YouTube, Blogger, and Google+. In the blog post announcing the death of Orkut, Paulo Golgher, Engineering Director, says:
Over the past decade, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have taken off, with communities springing up in every corner of the world. Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut’s growth, we’ve decided to bid Orkut farewell (or, tchau). We’ll be focusing our energy and resources on making these other social platforms as amazing as possible for everyone who uses them.
Basically, Orkut’s dead – or on its way there – so they’re doing a mercy killing.
Orkut will shut down Orkut on September 30, 2014, without any impact on its current users. User data can also be exported via Google Takeout.
While practically no one seems to care about Orkut anymore, yes, there are people who have a fondness for Orkut, like this woman who wrote “A requiem to Orkut, where I met my husband“. There’s something HIMYM-ish potential there, don’t you think?
There are those who still remember and say goodbye.
#Google puts an end to #Orkut, its first social network to focus on Google+ https://t.co/tyrQ6IS1Pk pic.twitter.com/2XMpEyFZgQ
— Net4Tech (@net4tech) July 1, 2014
And there is this tweet which made me laugh – you tell me why.
They shut down Orkut and people are fine with it. I dare them to shut down Twitter. World War 3 will happen.
— Duetschland (@AlbellaRaahei) July 2, 2014
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