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Orkut has not returned. As of October 9, 2026, its founder, Orkut Büyükkökten, is asking people to support a proposed new social network through orkut.com. The site does not offer a usable new Orkut service, and signing up does not reserve an account or a place in line.

Is Orkut back, or is it coming back?

No confirmed relaunch has been announced. The current orkut.com site is a campaign for support, not a registration page for a live social network. A Diario de Pernambuco report published October 8, 2026 said visitors could not create accounts, use communities, or access the old network’s features; it also reported that no launch date or feature set had been confirmed. [c006]

India Today described the announcement on October 9, 2026 as a campaign rather than a relaunch. Its report said the campaign page showed more than 270,000 signatures across 115 countries at the time the story was published. That is a dated count reported by the outlet, not a fixed or independently verified total. [c007]

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What does the support signup do?

The official site asks visitors to add their names in support and share a supporter card. It explicitly says signing does not reserve a username, an account, or a place in line. It is not a preorder or product registration. [c001] [c002]

What does Orkut’s founder want to build?

In his current letter, Büyükkökten says he wants an internet centered on real people, human connection, and belonging, rather than platforms that prioritize attention. He says former users most often tell him they miss Orkut’s communities: groups built around shared interests and everyday experiences. His summary is: “In a feed you’re an audience, in a community you’re a member.” [c004] [c008]

The letter also describes a possible role for AI in helping people form or deepen friendships, while raising concerns about bots, synthetic content, and uncertainty over who is real online. These are the founder’s diagnosis and aspirations, not confirmed capabilities or results of a new service. His closing line is: “An algorithm can’t make life worth living. But a friend can. A community can.” [c004]

What happened to the original Orkut?

Google announced on June 30, 2014 that it would discontinue Orkut on September 30, 2014. It stopped new account creation when it announced the closure. Existing users could export profile information, community messages, and photos through Google Takeout until September 2016; Google also said an archive of public communities would remain online. [c003]

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Orkut’s current official biography says the service had more than 300 million users worldwide and accounted for over 50% of Google’s page views at its peak. The page does not date either figure. [c005]

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What has not been announced?

The available announcements do not establish when a new service might launch, what its final features would be, whether old Orkut data could migrate, or how the proposed network would be funded. Account access, community tools, identity safeguards, privacy and moderation rules, feed design, and a business model remain unspecified. The campaign’s stated goals should not be mistaken for implemented product features. [c006]

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