a letter from Orkut

Hi again.

It's me, Orkut.

I’ve been quiet for a while, but I need to talk to you. What I’ve worked on my whole life has become more urgent than I ever imagined. Over two decades ago, I created some of the earliest social networks. I have watched with you as social media has gone wrong.

Do you remember when the internet was human? When a message from a stranger on another continent felt like magic? Another person had reached across the world to share a small piece of themselves. Maybe the connection lasted only a moment, but it was thrilling because it was real.

What happened? Twenty years spent optimizing for your attention. Feeds built around engagement, not connection. A generation of kids surrendered to algorithms that addicted them, divided them, and sold them to advertisers. No surprise that they grew up lonely and anxious.

I still love this industry, but I despair at what it has become. Move fast and break things, so the slogan went. Well, things are broken. And now the machines have arrived. Artificial intelligence is extraordinary technology, but it’s dissolving the one premise that made social networking special and worth building: that there was a person on the other side.

When people tell me what they miss most about orkut.com, they always say the communities. The people who repaired the same motorcycle. The people who rode the same bus route. The people who hated Mondays. In a feed you’re an audience, in a community you’re a member. That was the whole point.

You’ve seen what AI is doing to social media: bots, AI slop, deepfakes, rogue agents, synthetic content. You know what AI can’t create?

Joy. Hope. Gratitude. Wonder. Amusement. Inspiration. Love. That is what makes a life worth living. I came into this world alone and with nothing, and I have somehow ended up with so much. Every bit of it came from love. So, find it. Give it away. Hold it close. Make it grow. Life goes by fast, and the machines won’t give you more of it.

I see a different future for the internet, one built around real people, one with a human on the other side of every message. A future not focused on algorithms, eyeballs, and time-on-site optimization. The next generation deserves a better world, one where their communities reward kindness, curiosity, friendship, trust, and connection.

I want to live in that world. I know you do, too.

I know how to get there: we rebuild the internet we first loved. The one with authentic people, real connection, and genuine belonging. But I can’t build it without you.

I’m asking you to join the movement. Go to orkut.com and add your name. Then, think of one person you want there with you, and send them your supporter card. Tell them why you thought of them. Remind them why you care.

An algorithm can’t make life worth living. But a friend can. A community can. So, let’s stop optimizing for attention and start optimizing for each other. And do it the way everything good in my life has happened: with love, and together.

Let’s make the internet human again together!