As I anxiously await my Google Plus+ invitation and I take a look at the existing Google services that I use, I can't help but wonder what will come of Orkut.
After doing a search online for who uses Orkut, it appears as if it is popular and Brazil and was in Iran before it was blocked by the government.
What we already know about Google Plus+ is that it is supposed to be a simpler form of the online social thin. The Circles feature allows you to create groups of people that you can then create privacy settings around. Settings such as who can see a collection of photos is now more easily identifiable. The Hangouts feature allows for group video, for free I believe, which I think is great because I currently use Skype all of the time and while I want to use group video pretty badly, I won't pay for it. The Instant Upload feature will allow quick upload of video and pictures. Sparks will send you content relevant to the things you like, and Huddle will allow group chat. I get all of that and I'm excited, but I wish I knew more about it. What I have been seeing over the past year or so with Google is a slow merging and consistency between all of their applications. All of the app designs and logos seem to be merging with what I hope becomes a one stop shop for everything I do on the web. I can only imagine the possibilities once Docs, Music Beta, Latitude, and Places are all integreated. Google seems to be coming in the back door of this social thing.
The thing we seemed to have gotten used to from Google is their products change so much so fast that we never really get set in a certain way using their stuff the way we normally would a desktop application that puts out a new release every year or more.
As for Orkut, never used it. However, I do have a profile with no friends and it just seems as if, over time, Google continued to collect my information and build the profile for me. I see it does have video and photo upload, communities, and applications which all seem pretty with some features of Myspace and some features of Facebook. The newest feature I see is the same chat integration that exists in GMail. I'm wondering if Google will merge Orkut into Google Plus or if they will keep things separate. Do we start the end-of-life of Orkut now?
I've always hated Orkut, it's never been my piece of cake. But, I think Google will keep it - they kept Buzz (which was absolute crap anyway), why not Orkut?
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