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Oops. Wrong spelling: Orkut.

A pretty large majority of the article went into arguing that just because Google lacks good social networking tools, it is declining. What kind of logic is that?

Especially since Google owns Orkut, a, um, social networking site.

http://www.orkut.com/About.aspx

And, actually, it was one of the first, and I understand it to be big in India and Brazil. According to the Wikipedia article on Orkut, the social networking site that the author of the OP's article is ignoring is flirting with the top 100 most visited sites in the world.

The conclusion? Poor journalism. Again. What is up with Taco these days? He knows better.

Google already has a social networking place called Orkut. They also have Google Profiles which lacks a lot of social networking functionality, but it has some of the same features...

Maybe try Orkut? No, it's not a joke.

Orkut is such a failure people don't even remember the name.

Google's arrogance will be its undoing.

Orkut has recently added some features related to reviews on books and you could find some leads.

BTW, FP?

Well, Orkut actually began as a side project of a Google employee. It's very popular in India and Brazil for some reason.

Google Launches OpenSocial to Spread Social Applications Across the Web

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- November 1, 2007 - Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced the release of OpenSocial -- a set of common APIs for building social applications across the web -- for developers of social applications and websites that want to add social features. OpenSocial will unleash more powerful and pervasive social capabilities for the web, empowering developers to build far-reaching applications that users can enjoy regardless of the websites, web applications, or social networks they use. The release of OpenSocial marks the first time that multiple social networks have been made accessible under a common API to make development and distribution easier and more efficient for developers.

The proliferation of unique APIs across dozens of social websites is forcing developers to choose which ones to write applications for - and then spend their time writing separately for each. OpenSocial gives developers of social applications a single set of APIs to learn for their application to run on any OpenSocial-enabled website. By providing these simple, standards-based technologies, OpenSocial will speed innovation and bring more social features to more places across the web. Users win too: they get more interesting, engaging, or useful features faster.

"The web is fundamentally better when it's social, and we're only just starting to see what's possible when you bring social information into different contexts on the web," said XXXX. "There's a lot of innovation that will be spurred simply by creating a standard way for developers to run social applications in more places. With the input and iteration of the community, we hope OpenSocial will become a standard set of technologies for making the web social."

Learn Once, Reach Across the Web

One of the most important benefits of OpenSocial is the vast distribution network that developers will have for their applications. The sites that have already committed to supporting OpenSocial -- Website Partner A, Website Partner B, Website Partner C, etc. -- represent an audience of well over 100 million users globally. Critical for time- and resource-strapped developers is being able to "learn once, write anywhere" -- learn the OpenSocial APIs once and then build applications that work with any OpenSocial-enabled websites.

Several developers, including Gadget Partner Z, Gadget Partner Y, Gadget Partner X, etc., have already built applications that use the OpenSocial APIs. Starting today, a developer sandbox is available at http://sandbox.orkut.com/ so developers can go in and start testing the OpenSocial APIs. The goal is to have developers build applications in the sandbox so they can deploy on Orkut and ultimately other OpenSocial sites.

More Social In More Places

The existence of this single programming model also helps websites who are eager to satisfy their users' interest in social features. More developers building social applications more easily translates directly into more features more quickly for websites.

"Orkut has tens of millions of passionate users who are constantly clamoring for new ways to have fun with their friends and express themselves through Orkut," said Amar Gandhi, group product manager for Orkut, Google's social networking service. "By using OpenSocial to open up Orkut as a platform for any developer, we can tap into the vast creativity of the community and make new features available to our users frequently."

The common method that OpenSocial provides for hosting social applications means that websites can engage a much larger pool of third party developers than they could otherwise. They can direct resources that might have gone to maintaining a proprietary API and supporting its developer community to other projects.

Because OpenSocial removes the hassle from developing for individual websites, developers can unleash their creativity anywhere that catches thei

http://www.orkut.com/About.aspx

If orkut becomes as popular in the US as it is in Brasil, then it would have been pretty stupid from Google to sign a deal :-)

Will this application be compatable with Orkut? Google's own social networking/Facebook site?

Couldn't google make something that actually evolves out of the beta?

I mean Gmail is STILL in beta according to the logo... 3 years of beta "testing"? Isn't that enough?

The reporting tool that was offered to authorities acts as a hotline to Google Inc., allowing the authorities to communicate requests for removal of content to us. The reporting tool does not give the police any privilege other than a speedier vehicle to notify Google Inc. about flagged users or communities. Authorities have no access to user data and can not remove content themselves by using this tool. The tool is not used to provide authorities with user information such as IP addresses. Google investigates reports received by the authorities via the reporting tool to determine whether a user or community has in fact violated orkut's terms of use. Authorities may use the reporting tool to ask Google to preserve user identifying information for a certain period of time (in anticipation of serving formal legal process for such information), and we will preserve the information accordingly. But no user data is turned over to the authorities absent valid legal process.

And Orkut (http://www.orkut.com/About.aspx ).

Although, created by an employee, Orkut was always kind of a "Google presents..." type of thing rather than an official Google product.

Hmm, I really don't have a clue as to what platform Orkut is running on. Of course, the URL's on the site uses the ".aspx"-suffix but the returned server header says GFE:

# curl -I "https://www.orkut.com/"
HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Location: https://www.orkut.com/GLogin.aspx?done=https%3A%2F %2Fwww.orkut.com%2F
Content-Length: 0
Cache-control: private
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:58:40 GMT
Content-Type: text/html
Server: GFE/1.3

...perhaps this means they're load balancing or similar, but still.

Google's social network http://www.orkut.com/ service is ASP.NET based, and quite slow and unstable - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkut#Speed_and_Relia bility. I wonder why they don't move it to their Linux infrastructure. Maybe it's time.

Friendster isn't the only network being overshadowed by MySpace. There's also Orkut and the exceedingly lame Hi5, which are very popular in certain regions of the world even as most Americans have never heard of them. Of course, most Slashdot users know that Orkut is overwhelmingly Brazilian, and the language of most discussion forums (and of the woefully common spam) is Portuguese, but Orkut also caught on in Estonia. Meanwhile, Hi5 seems to have attracted quite a crowd of Romanians and Bulgarians.

I suspect MySpace became so popular for the same reason as LiveJournal: users can pick skins for their personal pages, and for some strange reason American teenagers really dig unreadability. Friendster tried to target a general American crowd but didn't offer this vital feature. And the other social networking sites are big in places where the aesthetic values of the American teen don't apply.

http://www.orkut.com/

Right, and it's called Orkut, currently used by just about everybody in Brazil.

Social networking sites have a large role to play in making people less lonelier..Sites like Orkut, Myspace, Grupus, etc.. there are just so many of them, in different varieties and flavours, nowadays you end up interacting with a lot of people even from the confines of your home, even by just sitting in front of the box.

...Or elitists?

Now if Google would only apply all those smarts to something not evil.

You would have to relocate the main offices all somewhere such as Detroit(or somewhere in the Midwest/Rust Belt), and remove the exclusionism in their culture - the most obvious example of it is the Stanford Nexus II product.

Only when you have removed the culture of excluding on a whim, is when you can start believing that what intelligence that exists at Google is doing something Not Evil. Anything else is a corporate "Animal House" with hollow friendliness mixed in.

You are asking for a tall order there, sir. If it happens, there will certainly be some that would think that it'd be on the decline that they do this. Somehow I doubt it.

clearly you've never visited Orkut

Also, are you saying that there's no Google social network yet? It's inhabited almost exclusively by Brazilians, and is spammy as hell, but it's definitely a Google social network. It's invite only, but I don't think it's in beta (they bought it). It should be though, what with such a devastating donut famine.

I think he is. But he also has a point. It's not so far-fetched to think Google will get into this eventually, even if they joke about it know. They already have orkut, you know? And online dating services are moderately popular and an interesting type of site for advertising.

More generally, Google <insert whatever word you want> Beta is not unlikely to happen eventually.

.NET is a development/execution framework and Linux is an OS. .NET runs on Linux and Windows. Web applications developed with .NET have an .aspx suffix. Take a close look at the Orkut web site.

https://www.orkut.com/GLogin. aspx ?done=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.orkut.com%2F

Notice the .aspx suffix after [orkut.com]. Orkut is developed on .NET.

Google has its own pet project - the social networking site orkut, which has at least 14 million users which has been in beta for almost 3 years now...this appears to be in line with Eric's comments about the user-generated content web idea.

I can see how google could use its network to sort of create a global log in for a large network of social sites. Now we just have to watch who google gets in bed with...

Hmmm, lol, some interesting links!
- google + orkut
- google js
- is that what that means?
- LOL

Keep it public and do automatic email confirmations. We have enough circlejerk communities.

Definitely. I have tracked a significant percentage of the traffic to some of my websites to Froogle, either directly, or via Blujay. As I mentioned, and you have also observed, Froogle has not yet hit it's stride, and (from the buyer's perspective) if you are really persistent, you can sometimes find better pricing elsewhere. But I believe it has enormous potential, and is just now reaching critical mass. The process of getting listed is still a bit of a hassle, but it's definitely worthwhile -- and at least for now, there is no cost other than a little time and effort. And since Blujay.com does that for its users, I don't even bother with a direct listing anymore.

I just wish that GooglePay would become real... Google isn't really taking over the world; they are just seducing us into giving it to them :) Eventually, Google may become the evil empire (displacing Microsoft), but for now, I even participate in Orkut.

Do not hire anyone from the Midwest or from any non-exclusive university for any meaningful position if at all.

Sounds like this would be one of the ones they go by a lot - since it seems to be 1) International/Exclusive educated, 2)If you have to hire Midwestern, give them some valueless and obscure position, or 3) Hire them only when the company is guaranteed to run into the ground, blaming them for the bankruptcy while moving to another company.

However that happens, that seems to be mutually exclusive from "Do no evil". Given Google's origins from a very exclusive school that has helped run the other part of Palo Alto into the ground along with their (informal) policies against Midwestern/US students, I'd have to say that they were doing evil *before* they incorporated.

They just now have the legitimacy to be evil if they want to, and it shows quite well of their not-so-good intentions.

Thank you for explaining why Google News doesn't display advertisements. Now explain why Google can't remove the "beta" tag and admit that Google News is a miserable failure.

Also, how can Google display the entire text of web pages which it didn't write nor was it explicitly authorized to mirror without "opening themselves up for copyright infringement"?

Google makes nearly all its revenue off ads, so I'd call them a "giant ad broker" if there ever were one. All their services are designed to get you, the user, to see and click on their ads. They compete with DoubleClick as well as Yahoo! -- ever notice how much is tied to that one never-expiring Google cookie? Google knows who your Brazilian friends are, what you want to buy, who you send mail to, and what kind of porn you like. Compared to all that, there's virtually no money to be made on a JavaScript office suite.

Once Google's Orkut comes out of beta, oh, man. It'll be like Friendster and Tribe and OKCupid and BDSMPartnerSearch.com.au all put together but with amazingly leet JavaScript.

But it won't be evil.

http://www.orkut.com/ Is in asp.net and is a Google service. It is very slow(compared to other google services). This needs to be ported and brought up to speed!!!

Have you noticed that Google finally merged Gmail and Orkut and started a login migration program? Orkut
Since a couple of days ago, instead of signing in with your Orkut user/pass you should do it with your Gmail's.
Actually instead of going to http://www.orkut.com/login.aspx from now on you are redirected to http://www.orkut.com/Glogin.aspx
Google is heavily investing on the name and If this legal issue would force Google get rid of the name Gmail, I beleive it would be a real blow to them.

Have you noticed that Google finally merged Gmail and Orkut and started a login migration program? Orkut
Since a couple of days ago, instead of signing in with your Orkut user/pass you should do it with your Gmail's.
Actually instead of going to http://www.orkut.com/login.aspx from now on you are redirected to http://www.orkut.com/Glogin.aspx
Google is heavily investing on the name and If this legal issue would force Google get rid of the name Gmail, I beleive it would be a real blow to them.

Have you noticed that Google finally merged Gmail and Orkut and started a login migration program? Orkut
Since a couple of days ago, instead of signing in with your Orkut user/pass you should do it with your Gmail's.
Actually instead of going to http://www.orkut.com/login.aspx from now on you are redirected to http://www.orkut.com/Glogin.aspx
Google is heavily investing on the name and If this legal issue would force Google get rid of the name Gmail, I beleive it would be a real blow to them.

Maybe you might want to ask Orkut, these exclusionists(who inspired Google towards their current policy), this guy, and maybe CNET. Also, it wouldnt be too far off of them to be evil by making it policy to consider the Midwest as talentless "flyover country".

Maybe they ought to get out there in the sun and take a look at rest of the nation that didnt have blessed connections but has plenty of talent.

I think that if they make a instant messenger that uses Orkut database will be really cool.

Dude, you're on Slashdot. Orkut is over there. Don't forget your Portuguese-English dictionary, though.

There are also substantial Iranian, Estonian, Pakistani communities... If you don't speak their languages, how is that their problem? Most of them have made the effort to learn yours. Here are Orkut's actual demographic statistics. It would be interesting to see statistics based on proportion-of-population. I think Estonia would be quite high on the list. Where else could you meet these guys if you don't travel?

(If you don't read Portuguese, how did you know it was abusive?)

First, they collect your search information. Next they collected your email. Now they collect your destination. You put it all together, that is quite a bit of information.

Add to that your Usenet posts, where you're going or where you live, what you're buying, what kind of news you're interested in, and maybe even who your friends are.

But all that's only true if you give them the information. Even so, the quantity that Google could know about me just given all the Google stuff I've used from one single IP address is rather alarming.

But I don't mind. This is partly because I don't think they're jerks (as far as public corporations go, anyway), but mostly still because I don't think they really care.

If we had a lot of evidence they did care, then I suspect that there would immediately exist a movement for 'free', anonymous versions of whatever services Google currently provides.

Google Personals
Dont they already have that?

Google Personals?

Now if there was only a Gsexlife.com, so we (the Slashdot Googel- and Linux-butt-ugly nerds) could have one of those without paying every time.

It's called Orkut, and it sucks.

It doesn't matter if it is an American company or not. The Constitution does not protect speech on private networks, it excludes censorship by the GOVERNMENT and you need to understand that. If I run a BBS/web board and find something I don't want to read or have posted, it is within my rights to remove it. Most of the content that people are complaining about are specifically excluded by the Orkut TOS.

They also released Orkut (it's Brazilian Portuguese for "Server Error") which has been in beta but has been universally forgotten by the community at large.

It'll be fun to see what happens when companies start discontinuing products that have been in beta forever. Might Google be evil then?

From Orkut Help:

How can I delete my account?
Category: My Account
Updated: 9/28/2004

Answer
If you'd like to permanently delete your account, please follow these steps:

1. Select the 'Home' link in the blue bar at the top of the page.
2. Click on the 'profile' button under your photo.
3. Click the 'edit profile' button that appears under your photo.
4. Click the 'terminate' option on the right-hand side of the page.
5. Select 'terminate account.' If you wish to remain a member, choose 'i changed my mind.'

Please keep in mind that once you delete your account, you will not be able to restore or reactivate this account.

Thanks for playing,
orkut.com

If you look at the stats, it is *the* number one place where orkut is popular (63% of the members), with USA in a far second (11%)

http://www.orkut.com/MembersAll.aspx

(log-on required to see the stats)