Orkut is trending again. It hasn't actually launched, but its creator, Orkut Büyükkökten, has launched a petition asking people if they want it to return, and as of October 2026, over 2.55 lakh people have already said yes. If you grew up in India between 2004 and 2012, you probably remember the platform. I certainly do. Scraps, testimonials, profile themes, and communities. It was basically our Facebook before Facebook took over. And now the man who built it is asking whether we want a second shot.
What exactly is happening with the Orkut petition?
Büyükkökten launched a campaign through the original Orkut.com domain to rally support for bringing the platform back. His message is pretty sharp. He argues that modern social media is broken by AI-curated feeds and engagement-bait algorithms. It has strayed miles from what the web used to be, which was simply a place to hang out with real people.
Reports from Free Press Journal and News18 show that more than 2.55 lakh people signed the petition shortly after it went live. That's a big number. And it skews heavily Indian (which makes sense, actually), since India was one of Orkut's biggest user bases before Google shut it down in September 2014.
Thing is, this isn't Büyükkökten's first attempt.
He previously launched a social network called Hello (hello.com) around 2016-2017 as a community-focused alternative to mainstream apps. It didn't take off. In my experience, tech nostalgia is easy to stir up online, but turning fond memories into a viable daily app that survives in 2026 is another beast entirely.
Why now? The argument against AI-driven social media
Büyükkökten's stated reason for this revival push is a direct reaction to modern feeds. AI junk, rage-bait loops, bot accounts, and echo chambers have taken over our screens. So he wants a new Orkut to be an answer to that mess. He envisions a network built on real friendships and genuine community, rather than follower counts or viral stunts.
Honestly, if you ask me, the argument lands. Spend ten minutes on Instagram Reels or X in 2026, and your feed is mostly strangers trying to sell you products alongside rage-bait posts designed to get a quick reaction. The simple idea of a space where you actually know every single person on your list sounds almost radical today.
Can Büyükkökten pull it off? I have my doubts. But the petition itself is clever. It gives him proof of demand while generating tons of free press at the same time.
What the new Orkut might actually look like
Details are still thin. Büyükkökten hasn't put out a formal product roadmap, nor has he given us a release date. What his campaign highlights is a basic philosophy: connection over content, community over clout. Reports from India Today and YourStory indicate that he wants to move away from performative posts. He wants smaller, quieter interactions instead.
Some points discussed in the campaign include:
- Less algorithmic manipulation of what you see
- Focus on real-name profiles and genuine connections (not follower farming)
- Community groups that work more like the old Orkut communities, interest-based rather than engagement-optimized
- A general pushback against AI-generated content flooding timelines
None of that is locked down as actual code yet. Still, I think his direction makes total sense.
Look at Outlook India's recent headline. It explicitly says "Orkut Is Not Returning Yet", so nobody should expect an app download link tomorrow morning. This petition is simply a temperature check. Büyükkökten is testing the waters before spending money to build anything serious.
India's relationship with Orkut — and why this matters more here than anywhere else
Most international tech outlets miss this point entirely. Orkut was massive in India. In fact, India basically kept the platform alive during its final years. Once Facebook swept across the US and Europe between 2008 and 2010, Orkut's active crowd clustered almost entirely in Brazil and India. By the time Google pulled the plug in September 2014, India was its last real fortress.
So when this new petition racks up 2.55 lakh signatures in days, Indian users make up the vast majority. People who were in school or college between 2006 and 2012 are now in their thirties. They have smartphones and a lot of nostalgia for how the web felt before feeds turned exhausting.
If you track the latest Indian tech news, this potential comeback is a fascinating case. It tells us something real about how people feel regarding apps like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and X in 2026. Users are just tired. And when people get tired, they start looking around for exits.
The timing is also pretty tricky. India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act is officially active now. That means any fresh platform entering the country has to handle strict data localisation and user consent rules that didn't exist when Orkut first ran. If Büyükkökten wants India as his launchpad, he has a ton of legal paperwork ahead of him.
The real challenges ahead
Let's be blunt here. In my view, nostalgia is never a viable business model.
The web is littered with dead platforms that promised to be friendly alternatives to Big Tech. Google+ died a very public death. Diaspora never found an audience. MeWe got a brief spike during the 2021 Facebook outage, only to vanish from headlines weeks later. The brutal reality is network effects. A social app is only useful when your actual friends log in every day. Collecting 2.55 lakh petition clicks is easy. Turning those sign-ups into daily active users is an uphill battle.
Then there's the money problem. Orkut originally ran on Google's massive server racks, but that free ride is gone. Any new team has to pay for servers, moderation teams, software engineers, and compliance tools. None of that is cheap. If Büyükkökten refuses to run the ad-driven engagement circus he hates, how does he pay the bills? Subscriptions or paid tiers? That's historically a tough sell among Indian internet users. (Though that is changing, see how fintech and platform bundling are shifting Indian payment habits.)
Besides, the Indian market in 2026 is brutal. Users already spend their days across WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, ShareChat, Moj, and local alternatives. Nobody is sitting around waiting for another login screen. To survive, the team needs a genuinely killer product rather than clever marketing.
"Years before TikTok and Instagram, a simple user-friendly social network helped millions of people build genuine relationships online." (Indian Express, on the original Orkut's appeal)
How to sign the petition and what signing it actually means
If you want to add your name, head over to Orkut.com. The process is very simple. You just enter your details and hit submit. The tech site Digit covered the exact steps earlier this month.
What does your signature actually achieve? Basically, it gives Büyükkökten a clean metric to show prospective angel investors and venture funds. You aren't pre-registering an account, and you aren't getting early access codes. You're simply casting an informal vote. To be honest, whether this ever turns into working software is still pretty fuzzy.
If you're curious about how modern apps are evolving, our tech explainers section covers these shifts regularly. And if you want to see what small engineering teams can pull off with modern tools, take a look at our breakdown of Jev AI's 2026 features and India access.
Bottom line
Orkut isn't back yet. But crossing 2.55 lakh signatures so quickly is a clear signal. If you ask me, the message behind it resonates because Indian users are fed up with robotic feeds and sponsored junk.
Turning viral signatures into a functional platform with funding and DPDP compliance is a long haul. Getting millions of people to switch their daily routines is even harder. Still, I think the debate he kicked off is refreshing. The old web felt human, and people miss that.
We'll see what happens next. If sign-ups keep surging, checkbooks will definitely open.
