Google Shuts Down Orkut Social Network

Do you know what Orkut is? Back in 2004, Orkut was created by Google as a social network before "social networking" was a prevalent term. In it, users were able to connect with others, converse, and play games. Ten years later, Google has decided that in light of their other, more popular social networks taking off, Orkut will be cut.

Ten years of content from Orkut will be saved in an online archive. That's the entire life span of the social network, start to finish – and while users will be unable to edit content therein, they will be able to opt-out of being included in this archive.

Those of you that've used Orkut and wish to be excluded from the archive should head to the Google help center to start the process. Everyone else can sit pretty – you'll be archived for the foreseeable future, starting on September 30th, 2014.

Sign-ups for Orkut have been axed starting this week. Users that wish to export their data can also do so using Google Takeout. This takeout service will be available until September 2016.