We rarely mention Google’s three year old social network Orkut these days. Except to point out down time or flawed Alexa stats that suggest it is bigger than MySpace. But now some real news.
Take a good look at that screen shot because Google is promising an “updated look” for the site. They are staging this to users in batches, so it may take a while to make its way to you.
Damn, I guess I need to add a friend or two. I sure hope they create a Facebook application. I can’t keep track of all of these social networks.
Update: Check out the surprising Comscore analysis of Orkut.
Update 2: New look is out. zzzzzzzzz
nice!
Orkut is all action and creeping up on alexa top 10! yet much smaller sites get more talk.
Alexa stats just don’t mean much. I’m getting Comscore now and will post an update. Wikipedia says its the 31st most trafficked site in the U.S., but that seems suspiciously high and there is no citation.
I think these are the same ppl who r in other countries where they are paid to install alexa toolbar and use specifc sites to boost their rankings .. naturally, they use orkut too
To be fair to Alexa, Orkut is huge outside of the US, hence it’s showing in the overall stats. No 1 site in Brazil and Paraguay, No 2 in India and Pakistan. Brazil and India are big markets, and Paraguay and Pakistan aren’t super small either. I have no idea why that is the case, but it is.
Josh
I think that is a gross generalization; besides, most of that activity occurs in China, not Brazil.
Hmm, perhaps a social network profile aggregator thats a facebook app?
Ceckout the following link for a leaked screenshot of new interface
http://bp2.blog...esign-large.jpg
I can’t guarantee the authenticity of the picture…
comcore says orkut is bigger than facebook…
http://www.tech...score-says-yes/
Yes, I agree, orkut is vastly popular in some countries outside of the US. But bigger than facebook? …scratching head
here’s link for a screen shot of new orkut layout !!
well it my profile in there so I believe it’s authenticated
http://img292.i...23/orkuttl9.jpg
Me neither I can’t keep track of all of these social networks, but just in case I connect to them to check what they offer.
The only Swiss connections I get on Orkut in Switzerland are from spanish or indian swiss and on my profile it say “You are connected to 68,913,680 people” … I guess it is a litlle more than Facebook for now
Yup…orkut is huge in India. Infact, orkut came first in the MTv India Youth Icon 2007 poll! Its been in the midst of a kidnap/murder plot in the past or so too…
http://www.ibnl...ds/47178-3.html
Duncan or Michael
I’d like to know your thoughts on how many social networks you think we can handle? It seems every day, another FB clone is released into the wild with little more than changes in colours and icons as a USP? And some are raising lots of VC to boot.
I understand that within the long tail there’s room for niche networks (eg Last FM) but even so, further down the tail there appears to be clone after clone in every sector and across every platform, ie mobile?
What’s your crystal ball say looking forward into the next 12 months? How much longer do you think the land grab will continue?
Its not just a question of a site having a huge number of members, you also have to consider that number of hours that people spend on these sites. And at least among the people i know that number is staggering…. Almost up to eight hours a day at times.
How do you get comscore stats ??
and how to enable to a given site ?
Now I sent you a friends request! LoL’s!! And Yeap! Orkut is HUGE & has heavy traffic. You have to explore to verify that
Cheers,
Vinay
I can confirm that I am seeing the new screens here in Taiwan as well although it is reporting errors about “data not available” so the upgrade may be in progress
http://www.basc...o.com/orkut.jpg
Arrington,
Please update the screen shot with the new look as posted in several comments. I think it will be useful.
Thanks
Orkut is huge in India. Even people who dont own a computer know of it. OTOH Facebook is known only to webheads.
Facebook is slowly and steadily started getting returning visitors from India as well. I think that’s one prime reason why orkut has finally decided to give in some new features.Last week, orkut enabled multimedia scrapping for the first time. Thanks to competition!
It’s funny that it says you’re connected to 68M+ people thro’ 0 friends. You’re already so well connected. Why do you need any friends!
Preview of new design here:
http://bp3.blog...mepage-en-1.png
Google needs to make Orkut much more like Facebook – and having a Facebook application is a good idea as well. Open standards – that is what Google is advocating in the mobile space, right?
Actually, there are many hacks that allow users to make Orkut more “user friendly,” (which I cover on my blog) although it would be nice if Google officially opened this up to the public.
arre vinay madarchod…mark bahinchod….patrick baapchoda…jono dadachoda…tum sab ek hi randi ki aulaad ho….kya achha dikha tha re maa ka lauda orkut mein…..jiska email id hai…wo sabse bada madarchod hai….
hey i liked the new look of orkut but m not getting the option add as friend in my friends profile . kindly assist me on this