Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
Orkut Founder Büyükkökten Launches Campaign To Revive Orkut With 2.55 Lakh Supporters
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Orkut Buyukkokten launched a campaign to revive Orkut with online supporters. Over 2.55 lakh people have signed up to back the revival.
11 outlets told this the same way.
Orkut comeback bid
Orkut Büyükkökten asked the public to help him bring Orkut back as a platform built around real people and communities, and he said more than 2.55 lakh (255,000) people had signed up in support at the time of writing. Büyükkökten launched the campaign to gather people interested in a new social network, and he asked followers to add their names at orkut.com and send their supporter card to someone they want to bring along. Supporters register for free with an email address and country of residence, and each person gets a shareable card showing their name, country, a unique supporter code, a QR code and the date they joined.
“Over 2.55 lakh (255,000) people had signed up in support at the time of writing.”
Büyükkökten’s campaign also ties the supporter codes to Orkut’s privacy policy, which says the codes are used to count how many people reach the site through shared cards. Büyükkökten said the project is not a relaunch of the old network, and he said it has no launch date and depends on decisions the company has not announced.
AI and algorithm fears
Büyükkökten argued that social media has gone wrong after two decades of design focused on grabbing attention, with feeds built for engagement instead of connection. Büyükkökten warned that the arrival of AI is eroding the idea that made social networking worth building, which he described as “that a real person sits on the other end.” Büyükkökten said the campaign is also aimed at threats to that model, including bots, AI-generated content, deepfakes and rogue agents.
Büyükkökten wrote in an open letter that “Feeds built around engagement, not connection,” and he said “A generation of kids surrendered to algorithms that addicted them, divided them, and sold them to advertisers.” Büyükkökten framed the effort as a countermeasure against algorithm-driven feeds and AI-generated content, saying the campaign seeks to replace profit-maximising algorithms with spaces built around real-world communities and mutual interests.
What Orkut was, and what next
Orkut launched in 2004, and the campaign is tied to Büyükkökten’s history as the engineer who created the social network while working at Google. Google shut down Orkut in September 2014, and Büyükkökten’s current push comes more than a decade after that shutdown. Büyükkökten said he wants a new social network focused on authentic people, real connection, and genuine belonging, and he urged users to sign a petition on orkut.com.
Büyükkökten’s campaign materials say the internet should help people find their people, with friendship, community and a place to belong, and they ask supporters to share their supporter card with someone they want to bring along. Büyükkökten also said he has not clarified whether a new version is already in development or whether it will ever launch, and he has not provided a launch date for the proposed platform.