Google Social Network: Orkut

shelleymonster writes "According to CNET, Google has quietly released its own version of Friendster, called Orkut. About 3 months ago, Google entered into talks to acquire Friendster, but was turned down. Named after one of its engineers, Orkut Buyukkokten, the new social network looks even tougher to get into than Friendster. An initial 12,000 invitations were sent out, and new users can only join through an existing user. Someone want to invite me?"

Comments

Friendster?

[cspenn]

Friendster was hard to get into because of all those JSP errors. Orkut is by invitation only. Slight difference.

Orkut?

[konichiwa]

Named after one of its engineers, Orkut Buyukkokten

They should have named it Buyukkokten! :(

Re:Orkut?

[tommck]

or Bukkake for short....

Re:Orkut?

[ellem]

Didn't you get the memo from Tom Chiusano that we can't say Bukkake anymore?

Re:Orkut?

[tuffy]

They should have named it Buyukkokten!

Sorry, but Ogg already took that name for another codec. Expect Ogg Buyukkokten to arrive soon and deliver amazing, patent-free chocolate cake compression over TCP/IP.

WOO HOO!

[NDPTAL85]

Alright! Now thru the golden graces of Google, they've amassed all the collective might of the PhD's they employ to re-create the negative social effects of high school cliques and elitism!

YAY!

/. Fan

[sleepingsquirrel]

Orkut? They'll have to do quite a bit of work to give their members the prestige that's associated with having a Slashdot fan.

Invitation only society

[PFactor]

An invitation-only society will always become cannabalistic and/or inbred.

I don't want to be invited into that!

Branching

[Microlith]

It'd be interesting to see how the contacts branch from the original 12,000 people.

You could see how they branch, what countries they cross into, and how people relate to each other (interests, age, etc.)

I wonder if this'd be something sociologists would like to watch...?

Re:Branching

[telstar]

All they really had to do was invite Kevin Bacon, and we'd be all set....

To quote Groucho Marx

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. =)

baaaa

[happyfrogcow]

yet another way for people to make themselves feel popular and socially accepted while being a commodity for someone else.

get over yourselves and do something useful.

I saw this and got really excited!

[Cytlid]

Does the fact that I don't need this service mean I have a life?

Call me pessimistic...

[TheRealMindChild]

... but while "invitation only" to begin with, doesn't necessarily ensure the quality of the network in the future. All of us have some "good" friends, as well as "bad" friends. The people with more questionable ethics could even go as far as auctioning an invitiation on ebay or something similar.

All forms of socialization over the internet seem to start out with loads of potential, but in the end, they all suffer from the scum that tends to surface.

bukkake?

[Grimlock88]

Next time someone questions the educational ability of the internet, simply respond with that one word. It is proof that we've all learned something new, which we probably never would have.

Not the most fortunate name

[joonasl]

In finnish, the word "orkut" is the plural form of the slang word for orgasm. Gives a completely new meaning for the idea of "Orkut is an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends."

Re:Not the most fortunate name

[bgarcia]

In finnish, the word "orkut" is the plural form of the slang word for orgasm. Gives a completely new meaning for the idea of "Orkut is an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends."

That explains the huge percentage of Finnish signing up!

Thanks!

- Google Orkut Development Team

Re:Friendless

[grahamkg]

Yes, they could let you in and you realize you've got nothing in common with them - just like in the real world.

Re:oo, shiny web site

[mansemat]

Right Click > View Source

This is only art of it, but it's the color changing part...

<script>
col=255;
function sa() { document.getElementById("ws").style.color="rgb(" + col + "," + col + "," + col + ")"; col-=5; if(col<0) col=0; if(col>0) setTimeout('sa()', 10); }
</script>

Join Orkut

[Finuvir]

I love the numerous links imploring me to 'Join Orkut', only to bring up a page saying " Membership to orkut is by invitation only." It's like yelling from your doorway to 'come on in', only to ask for a ticket at the door.

Riiiight...

[anactofgod]

Google put up a network to compete w/ Friendster.
Riiiiight

Twelve thousand initial invitations went out to join.
Riiiight

Only members can invite new members.
Riiiight

This is the BEST vaporware campaign EVER!

---anactofgod---

Invite only?

[clckwrkMalChick]

I feel like the fat kid who always got picked last for dodgeball. Wait, I am the fat kid that always got picked last for dodgeball. Somehow this hurts slightly more.

Re:Google Company Directive

[DigitalBubblebath]

...by working on it about one day a week--an amount that Google asks all of its engineers to devote to personal projects

Is it the Sunday?

Re:googoogaga

[argStyopa]

...and then /. will hate him like a holy Jihad, with every other story a lefthanded rant about how Google sucks, and how the world of mindless sheep computer users just don't properly appreciate the open-source alternatives (which are JUST AS GOOD even though they're:
a) not as stable
b) hell to install)

Can I be modded +1, Prophetic?

Re:Friendster is so 2003

[ichimunki]

Never thought I'd say this on Slashdot, but it's "loose" not "lose"!

Slashster

[DarkHelmet]

Okay everyone, shameless plug time.

I am currently creating a PHP version of friendster which I call Slashster. (Yes, this is inspired from Slashdot and Friendster).

I figured that a PHP/mysql implementation would be interesting, and I'm rather curious to see how this thing can end up scaling, and if it can do it well.

I was thinking of launching this on Monday, but this slashdot story was too relevant for me to wait on it, and get some of the press on it.

Right now, its layout is nearly identical to friendster, but will change once I actually get someone with design skill to help me redo it.

There are a couple primary differences between slashster and friendster so far:

• Slashster has a messageboard. You can only see threads / post from people two degrees of separation or less from you (You, your friends, their friends). Friendster kind of had a "post-it" system on their site, which didn't have any sort of interaction on it. This aims to be a little better.
• News feeds. I'm still working on getting the XML parser working better, but I have a couple news feeds on the "main page" which are pretty much customizable.
• Moderation: Right now, people who submit new threads to the messageboard have control on moderating people up / down on those posts. The way I figure, people who want to talk about one thing will have their own corner. People who want to be irrelevant and stupid will have another corner.
• Karma. Your karma is (roughly) the sum of your moderations (slashdot style) divided by the number of days you've been on the site. This way, it'll encourage people to be there on a daily basis and contribute. Also, the amount of space you get for uploading pictures depends on your karma.
• Referrals: You end up getting more picture space for the Karma of your friends. Hopefully this will encourage people to invite others who participate, and not those who do nothing.

I'm very interested in getting input on the place. I'm still doing bugfixes on the site, as I said before, so people visiting might get the occasional parse error or two while I'm updating things.

Still, I'm looking forward to any feedback (positive and negative) on this place. I'm really hoping this post gets modded up, simply so that more people will check it out.

You can email me at the address listed with this user account. Thanks everyone.

--Mark