Orkut Founder Asks Users to Support Return of Social Network

Orkut Büyükkökten, the founder of the eponymous social network Orkut, has called on users to help revive the site with a renewed focus on community and human connection, techcrunch.com reported. Originally launched in 2004 as a side project while Büyükkökten worked at Google, the platform achieved widespread popularity in Brazil and India before losing ground to Facebook and shutting down in September 2014.

Orkut Founder Asks Users to Register Support on Orkut.com

On Thursday, October 8, 2026, Büyükkökten published a post on X urging users to visit Orkut.com to add their names in support of bringing the platform back and to invite others to join. Accompanying the call to action, a letter published on the website criticized how social media has changed over the past twenty years, pointing specifically to the growing role of algorithms and AI-generated content.

Artificial intelligence is extraordinary technology, but it’s dissolving the one premise that made social networking special and worth building: that there was a person on the other side.

Orkut Büyükkökten

Büyükkökten added that he knows how to return to an internet built around authentic people, real connections, and genuine belonging.

Past Ventures Following the 2014 Google Shutdown

This marks the latest attempt by the founder to re-enter the social networking space following Google’s decision to shutter Orkut in 2014 to focus on YouTube and Google+. In 2016, Büyükkökten launched a shared-interests platform named Hello, which attracted more than two million downloads worldwide before shutting down in 2020. That footprint stood far below Orkut’s peak of about 300 million active users. By 2022, he posted a note on Orkut.com stating he was building something new, and in 2024, he told WIRED that he was developing a social network that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to foster communities.

Uncertain Timeline for the Proposed Platform Return

While Büyükkökten is currently gathering registrations of support on Orkut.com, he has not clarified whether a new version of the platform is actively in development or if it will launch. An email sent to Orkut seeking comment from the founder did not receive a response.