Orkut, a notable social media platform of the early 2000s, could be preparing for a second innings. Orkut Buyukkokten, co-founder and CEO of Orkut, recently shared a bid on social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, to “bring Orkut back” and sign a petition on Orkut’s website in that direction.
Interested people can sign the petition on orkut.com to support the initiative. At the time of writing, around 2.65 lakh signatures have been received on the platform across 118 countries. By signing the petition, users can show interest in the initiative that supports “Orkut to create a new social network focused on authentic people, real connection, and genuine belonging,” the website stated.
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The form on the website asks users to enter their age range, name, country of origin, e-mail and phone number (optional) after submitting the signature. Furthermore, Buyukkokten also shared an open letter on the website emphasising the current scenario of social media. He wrote: “Feeds built around engagement, not connection. A generation of kids surrendered to algorithms that addicted them, divided them, and sold them to advertisers.”
Comparing the times to two decades ago, he noted how early social networks used to rely on “real” human connections from people around the globe, in contrast to the current times of AI around deepfakes, synthetic content, rogue agents and more.
He added that while AI is an extraordinary technology, it is “dissolving the one premise that made social networking special and worth building: that there was a person on the other side.” For context, Orkut debuted in January 2004 and was shut down in September 2014 by Google.
The internet should help us find our people. Friendship. Community. A place to belong. Help me bring Orkut back in that spirit. Add your name at https://t.co/FO48fJMjEq and share your supporter card with someone you want to bring along. Love, Orkut https://t.co/zesE18Y3Fd
— Orkut Buyukkokten (@orkut) October 8, 2026
“I see a different future for the internet, one built around real people, one with a human on the other side of every message. A future not focused on algorithms, eyeballs, and time-on-site optimisation,” he added.
Moreover, Buyukkokten stressed rebuilding the internet with “authentic people, real connection and genuine belonging”. Orkut was built around communities and networks of like-minded people who shared a common objective or goal and still miss the platform, Buyukkokten noted, hinting at a possible re-release.