Future Tense

Google Is Finally Axing Its First Ever Social Network

Google’s oldest social network, Orkut, is finally saying the long goodbye. On Monday the Orkut blog announced that Google will end support for the decade-old service on Sept. 30. If you’ve ever used Orkut, it’s time to trudge to Google Takeout—sometime before September 2016—and get your data out of there.

It’s always fascinating to watch Google experiments fizzle out (Wave and Buzz, anyone?), but that’s not what’s happening with Orkut. Google’s first social network was actually successful in its day, and 10 years is a pretty good run for a social network. It’s time for a retirement party.

When Orkut gained Google Plus integration in 2012, it seemed like a sign that the end might be coming. But if you never used Orkut and aren’t feeling a wave of nostalgia, it’s because the service was never that big in the United States. In Brazil and India, on the other hand, it was a most-trafficked website for years. Now YouTube and, of course, Google Plus will be Google’s social focus. At least in death Orkut probably won’t be the butt of everyone’s mid-2000s jokes. Ahem, Myspace.