Posted on June 3, 2019
“I envision a future where social media will authentically connect people.”
Once upon a time, there was a social media that responded to more than half of all page views within Google network. It used to be called “orkut.com”, as a homage to it´s creator: Orkut Buyukkokten.
Fifteen years later, the visionary entrepreneur talks to us about his most famous creation, highlighting the differences of social back then and now. He also brought news about “hello.com”, his current project, and how it pretends to revolutionize – again – the world of social communities.
IE: Who is Orkut Buyukkokten when he is not planning the next big project?
My favorite thing to do when I’m not working is to spend time with my friends and meet new people. My friends are the sunshine of my life. I also love to read and I’m a geek at heart. I truly enjoy sci-fi, comic books, video games and programming. Another passion of mine is massage. I went to massage school for two years and became a certified massage therapist. But above all, I just love being surrounded by people and spending time with them. People energize me.
IE: People interact through internet since it was born. We had, mIRC, ICQ and other iconic channels. Then, social media came out. However, due to the proportions orkut.com reached – more than 300 million users worldwide -, there is no doubt it was a revolution. What is the main innovations brought by orkut when it was launched, on 2004? Would you classify it as the father of social media the way it is now?
orkut.com had over 300 million users worldwide and made the world a better place because it brought us closer together. The main innovation I would say was creating a genuine, welcoming, expressive online society and connecting people in meaningful ways, which often happened through communities. This happened in a different era when social networking was all about enabling authentic connections and creating magical moments. We had so many of these moments together, when we met new friends, found love, even created families through social networks. Social networking has taking a toll the past decade. Social networks were supposed to connect us all and create a better world but what they have done in the past decade instead is drive us to anxiety, depression, isolation and unhappiness.
IE: Orkut reminds me of when social media was for fun. I was on high school back then and used to use the platform to do teenager things, like talking about favorite songs, sports or looking for a girlfriend. Nowadays social networks are serious business. Brands and Marketers enter inside people’s minds to know what they want and are willing to pay for. Have you ever thought things would walk this way? How you see that?
Social media services today are optimizing their technology, algorithms, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence to maximize the time spent, and number of clicks on advertising. The marketers, brands, corporations, shareholders are a priority, not the user. Today, the feeds’ main purpose is turned into helping people promote themselves and getting their friends and followers interested in the posts. This resulted in an artificial, cascade of fake moments people started creating and consuming. I truly believe that social media should be all about the user and should optimize for user happiness and enabling meaningful connections.
IE: You are now the Founder and Head of Hello, a social network that promises to connect people around their passions. What are you bringing from your previous experiences in the tech-business worlds and what are you doing differently from your previous projects?
The most beloved feature on orkut.com was Communities. They provided a natural outlet for people to come together around things they had in common and were passionate about. We designed the entire experience of hello around communities. We have a top level of interest categories that we call personas. That makes it very natural, easy and fun to connect with others that are passionate about the same things you are. It also keeps content very organized and discoverable. On top of personas, we introduce user created communities – like we had on orkut.com.
IE: As the visionary you are, how you picture the next 10 years of social an virtual interaction? How is it gonna be when things come out from the screens, on the so called internet of things?
I envision a future where social networks will authentically connect people in all facets of their lives. It will not only be online but in physical places that bring people together — a coffee shop, a conference, the gym. You’ll find people who share your hobbies, who love to go to new restaurants, read the same kind of books or someone to go with to the genre of movies that you love. You will find others who are facing the same challenges as you and are there to lend a helping hand. And when you move to a new city or start a new job, it will be an easier transition as you will already know someone making a new place a little less lonely.
About the Author / InEvent
