Google has finally killed Orkut, and while we see it as a good thing, not everyone share our point of view. Several persons are already having fond memories of Google's first social network, especially those in India and Brazil.
"We will shut down Orkut on September 30, 2014. Until then, there will be no impact on current Orkut users, to give the community time to manage the transition," Paulo Golgher, Engineering Director of Orkut, wrote in a blog.
Orkut was founded back in January, 2004, a month before Facebook came online. Unfortunately, Orkut failed to gain the same amount of praise and popularity as Facebook, and thus was only considered popular in just a few countries. The service started off well in the United States, but in just a few years, Orkut lost its dominance in the U.S., but grew in Brazil and India.
Since the Orkut team is based in Brazil, it is understandable that many folks who are mourning the loss of the social network resides in that country. According to one user from Brazil, living without Orkut is impossible, but we are certain this person will find a way.
"I can't live without Orkut. Orkut is my life," wrote one user in an Orkut online community called "Time to say goodbye to Orkut."
Google might have thought that shutting down Orkut would give Google+ more regular users, but this doesn't appear to be the case. Another user, who wrote in Hindi, claims that Facebook doesn't give users the same discussion space as Orkut, and Google+ in its current state is even worse.
"What option do we have? Google+ is even worse," responded an Orkut user in Hindi.
While we understand those who are going to miss Orkut and believe they have nowhere else to go, we have to agree with Google on sending the social network to its grave. Orkut was Google's first social network baby, and it also helped to give birth to Google+. However, Orkut is not user friendly at all, and any new user who joins Orkut would likely never give it a second glance.
Reworking the design would have been a pain in the chest and there is no way Google could keep two social networks up and running.
Orkut is dead and will be buried in September of this year. It's time for mourners to move on and always remember that nothing lasts forever.
