Recently, tech website Mashable reported that Facebook is seeking to beat Orkut to dominate the Brazilian social media market. While Orkut has long been the leader in Brazil, Facebook has created new ways to lure Brazilians to its site. First, Facebook is now available in Portuguese, making access easier. Second, Facebook recently installed a new method to find friends, where users can upload their Orkut contacts to find them on Facebook, as the Mashable article mentions. Third, Facebook has a large variety of games and applications that you can play on the site, attracting new users merely to play games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars.
But the question is, will it work? Personally, I’ve seen mixed results. While tech-savvy and internationally-connected Brazilians have already been on Facebook for a long time, more and more middle class Brazilians have recently signed up for Facebook, but some wind up never using it, claiming it’s too complex and that Orkut is easier to use. However, less tech-savvy Brazilians have signed up for Facebook to be able to access the games, and aren’t as interested in the site for the social connections.
What about you? Do you think Facebook can beat Orkut in Brazil?
Comments:
rex:
Many of my friends have split virtual identities—Facebook is for American friends and Orkut is for Brazilian friends—and some people like the division. I can see how combining the two platforms would make life easier, but does anyone else like keeping them separate?
Tint:
Orkut is terrible. Have you tried to find a friend on there? I know the friend’s name is Mary Jones, but because everyone uses ‘creative’ characters to write their name, you get everyone But Mary Jones. I’ll give Orkut this much. It is easier to navigate. I must admit to being biased in that most of my contacts are overseas.
The biggest put-off for me with Orkut is that it uses the Google login and there is absolutely no help if one needs it. On the other hand, Facebook’s games are annoying, but the site is growing up. We can so easily hide all the gadgets. Facebook also has the ability to have notes, which can be used as a mini-blog. Last I checked, Orkut had nothing like that.
Rex, to answer your question, I keep my Orkut and Facebook separate. Orkut, for me, is for my students and a tiny handful of family. Facebook is for the rest of the world, including a few of those students and family ; )
Garrett:
Been using both for a while — orkut to maintain connection with friends in Brazil and Facebook for the USA…
The biggest difference from a social media perspective comes from impressions when in either — orkut has a definite social and community environment, where facebook can be either… about the demarcation I see in orkut between social and business is in the community groups…
Facebook can be adapted to either level — and so can orkut… the cultural tendency for Brazilians is to use orkut for social communication, Xing and others are as populart there and elsewhere in the world as LinkedIn is here…
Any black and white answer? not really — yet… the social media is still very young, and as the global markets become competitive, the DESIRES of the culture will dictate which tool will be used iwth comfort and ease… Some countries, particularly the U.S., do not mix social and business together as much as other countries such as Latin and South Americal…
Creating one or a few tools for the soical media is akin to building the Tower of Bable. There was a reason for the tower of Bable to fail — trying to build it again, would only remind us why it failed in the first place…
r4i:
Hi,
I am currently using orkut and facebook i always choose orkut as my regular usage..
Because orkut was really nice social site and this article giving me info about orkut so i really like it..
Zezinho:
I use both but Orkut is more for close friends in my comunity and facebook for everybody else outside of brazil..
Zezinho
Sergio Souza:
I think that Facebook will have a great impact on the younger Brazilians, since they find everything easy to use. Now the older and more used to ORKUT crowd will stick to their already book marked Orkut.
I have both, but since signing up for FB I have to say that Orkut has been left gathering dust. facebook is simple and fast, whereas Orkut seems old already. They need to give it a FACE LIFT or for sure FB will overtake the multitudes of Brazilians and others that use their site.
Now, I have a lot of friends that are keeping up with both and see no problem about that. You see them on both sites and things seems to be going alright on both ends.
Let’s wait and see until a new network really comes and gets our attention. Maybe they can become FACE ORKUT or something!!!