About five years ago, my friend Jeff Giles asked me to join Orkut — a social networking site that was started by Google. I joined, but not really knowing what the hell social networking was about, I just kind of left the page fallow. Well, after Facebook blew up as THE social network that you HAD to be on, I kind of got tired of the Facebook culture and wondered if there was an alternative. Sure, I had a Twitter and LinkedIn account, but those are different in terms of use. What I was looking for was a Facebook kind of site that was truly a place for friends. Well, I started becoming more active on Orkut and it’s been, well, odd. I don’t have that many friends (only three at this point), but I figure I’ll give it a try and see if others will join. It’s a lot like Facebook, but more of a Facebook-lite version. You can post updates, videos, photos, and all that other stuff we’ve come to expect from social networking, but because there are very few people from North America who are on Orkut (they have a ton of people from Brazil), it’s tough add friends.
Anyway, if you’re tired of Facebook and want to try something that’s not as…how do I put it…”You HAVE to be on Facebook,” give Orkut a try.
