An optimistic outlook for social media networking
Originally set up for people to join communities of people with like interests. This site was designed with a simple sophisticated navigation that made it very user friendly. Most users were interested in finding classmates and friends so by joining online schools, workplaces, and residential street groups it became easier to connect to people.
A social media network that held high prestige due to access came by invite only this meant to get in you were considered connected in the technology world.
Ratings a start to cyber bulling?
The site allowed you to rate others on how sexy, cool, and trustworthy you thought they were. Not sure how I would like that today as people have forgotten that just because you aren’t there doesn’t mean that a person is behind the screen reading your comments and getting hurt by things that could be said. Reading the letter from Orkut his intentions were to build people up not break them down. Unfortunately, not everyone sees things the same. Did this site start or help contribute to cyber bullying?
Popularity tops for Brazil
This site was a huge success in Brazil. Orkut had 90% of its page views coming from Brazilian users. I think this is partially due to outdoor advertising prohibited in Brazil. Which helped to create Brazil as one of the top online retail market friendly areas with 77% of the market having a positive outlook on online shopping.
These sites allow them to shop around and ask people what they think of certain products before they purchase. They can get more information directly from people they know rather than trusting the advertising agencies that Develop indoor advertising. These ads are typically done in house and may not give the true idea of what the product is or does that a regular person that has used the product can.
The Downfall
The Downfall
With most Orkut’s page views coming from Brazil it was imperative that it was successful in meeting that markets need. For years it worked well but as more became online and more sites were coming up it fell behind in providing an easy place to blog and engage the users through social gaming and video. Since Brazilians are very responsive to online video marketing which was not an easy thing to create in Orkut on top of dealing with functionality issues Brazilian users started looking for something else that would provide what they needed.
Thoughts on an Idea
Orkut was an optimist trying to improve the world though true connections and not just likes on pictures. He wanted people to be able to connect to not only who they knew or once knew but to people they admire. So, he created a site that allowed you to do just that, but did it succeed? In a way I think it absolutely did it provided a place for people all over to connect and be a part of something that they may not have been able to otherwise. This site was very successful for many years so it would be hard pressed to say it didn’t do what it was intended to do.
If it was designed to evolve with technology where it would not have had as many functionality problems or if they removed the blockages and caps would it still be around today? I am not sure on this one there are so many sites that can do so much more which is why this ended but with the trust and user base that Orkut had built through the years had it not had so many issues they may have survived and climbed to even greater heights.
What do you think would Orkut still be here if it had been able to evolve with the times and the needs of the Brazilian people?
Works Cited:
Mahoney, L.M, & Tang, T. (2016, February 19). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change Wiley Global Research (STMS). Retrieved from mbsdirect.: http://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781118556900
