On yet another blog post concerning social media marketing, this week we’re discussing Orkut, the social networking site named after Google’s creator: Orkut Buyukkokten.
Background
The social networking site launched in 2004, which is considered early in the days of social media. It shut down in 2014, another temporary social media platform that did not meet the needs of its users (We’ll come back to that later) and got overtaken by the popularity of Facebook.
The purpose of Orkut was to build a social media platform where users could “find communities through keyword search, including titles, description, and browsing through other users’ memberships. So basically it was like a mix between LinkedIn and Facebook before either was available to the public. Orkut had it’s exclusivity too, with an “invite-only membership list”. This meant that being a member was something exclusive, which made the users feel more important and feel they have high status, especially in the “technology realm”. Users trusted it because of “Google’s strong reputation” (Keep in mind this was the early 2000’s, so much has changed since then).
Another reason Orkut was so popular was that it put the privacy of the users “first and foremost”. In the first few years of social media where the internet wasn’t a fully trusted entity and users had concerns about privacy, this was a big deal. (It’s ironic that it was Google based, but we’ll talk about that issue some other time).
Orkut allowed users to connect with other users and rate them based on “how sexy, cool and trustworthy” they thought they were. This feature, along with many others, helped build the social network to 30 million users by 2012. But pride always comes before the fall.
Purpose of the Case Study
The case study in the textbook, Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change by L. Meghan Mahoney and Tang Tang, focuses on Orkut in the context of the popularity in Brazil. 90% of page views came from Brazil.
To understand why Orkut was so popular in Brazil, we need to understand why. Outdoor advertising is banned in Brazil which means most advertising has to come from media, or more specifically social media like Orkut, Facebook or any of the other social media platforms available today. Brazil has made that work well, with “77% of Brazilian social media users have[ing] a positive attitude towards online shopping” and “four-fifths” of users on social media sites researching products. Brazilians even trust recommendations from online contacts more than other sources.
Because of the ban on outdoor advertising, brands need to allow users to engage and build a relationship with them online through blogging, social gaming, and online video.
Where Orkut Fell Short
While Orkut was one of the foremost and leading social networking sites with an “interface [that] was clean, simple and sophisticated” (Which was a big deal in 2004, remember how a lot of websites looked clunky and blocky?), it failed to keep up with the demands of social media.
Sure, it was easy for users to find their friends and join groups, feel the exclusivity of belonging to a social media site that was invite only, and where their privacy needs were met. However, when it came to marketing and sharing product reviews with pictures and videos, the social media site fell short. As social media grew, the website fell short further with “functionality problems” including limiting the number of friends, difficulties in loading and sharing photos and videos and further failures to keep up with the changing landscape of social media.
What Does This Teach Us as Students of Social Media Marketing?
Social media is a revolving machine. Multiple sites are competing for users and clout and keeping users interested. Orkut failed because it failed to meet the needs of the Brazilian people by growing and evolving to include more features and aspects of social media that users needed. Orkut couldn’t keep up with other social media platforms that were on the rise, like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Orkut is a big reminder of usefulness. As soon as a social media platform is no longer useful, lacks ease of use, or is replaced by another social media platform that is easier to use, then users no longer use or frequent the site. Social media users will show loyalty to social media sites as long as they are useful. However, once the site no longer meet their needs, users will move on to other platforms. We’ve seen it with Myspace, Friendster, and now Orkut.
The big lesson here: Social media platforms must cater to their users first and always keep the user in mind over their need for profit or features. If users aren’t satisfied, they will go to another site that can meet their needs.
The moral of the story: If you like a social media platform, keep using it. What’s your favorite platform currently?