This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Orkut Now Has A New Social Network Called Hello

The founder of Orkut is back in the social media business.
Hello

Orkut is back! No, not the social network, but its founder Orkut Büyükkökten is back in business. And this time, he has brought another social network called Hello!

Hello is an interest based network for building communities and matching with people who would share your passion for something.

Büyükkökten recalled the moment on his website when Orkut, the social network was shut down in 2014. In the last decade, it was one of the most popular social networks in the world.

He said in a letter on Orkut.com that Orkut was a great adventure where people found dates, jobs, made friends and connections.

The world is a better place when we get to know each other, when we are a little less strange to each other. I've been a stranger myself sometimes: I was born in Turkey and grew up in Germany where I was a geeky muslim boy in a class of blondes. Back in Turkey in middle school, I was the funny guy with the German accent. All my life, I have felt like someone on the outs: I was a programmer, I was gay or I was short and had a foreign accent. I haven't always had the easiest journey. But the truth is, I've never had trouble making friends because I love people.

I think we all should be a little bit friendlier. The world needs it. We are living in a strange time. We hide behind our devices, ignoring the people around us. We stay with locals when we travel abroad but we don't even know our neighbors at home. We click through feeds of updates from our friends from under our covers in the dark. Our lives are splinters of anonymity and isolation. Too often, we are lonely. Too often, we are afraid of what we don't know. Too often, we are hateful toward what we don't understand.

But I'm hopeful about our world. I'm confident the more we connect, the more beautiful it will become. I created orkut with this in mind. It's also why I created the world's first social network when I was a grad student at Stanford, and it's why I have dedicated my life to helping people connect with each other.

So to all my friends, thank you for making orkut such a loving community. I'm so blessed to share this world with you. As a token of gratitude, I am making a new social network just for you. I'm not so good at goodbyes, so I'm calling it hello. hello is the next generation of orkut.

He thinks that Hello is the next logical step after Orkut. He even took a dig at Facebook saying Hello is built on loves, not likes.

The social network is right now available in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Canada and Brazil. The website suggests that Hello will be heading to India this month.

It is to be seen if Hello can pull off something and be significant against giants such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Or it will fade away like Ello.

Photos: A Last Look At Andaman's Only Swimming Elephant

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.