Photo by Yan Krukau: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-children-playing-on-green-grass-8613319/

I remember in elementary school some kids started a “secret” club (that wasn’t so secret). Not just anyone could join, you had to be invited. Of course everyone was just dying to get asked. We’d see the club members all smirking because they were ‘in.’ Rules were strict; if you were in the club, you couldn’t talk about it to anyone not in the club. One day, the club broke up. Eventually word got around why: the members were restricted about whom they could invite, they weren’t allowed to share anything about the club, and basically without resources, couldn’t do anything.

And Then They Say Goodbye…

 Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-red-lipstick-3831887/

The Brazilian social networking site of Orkut (owned and operated by Google) functioned like the secret-not secret club; membership was strictly controlled by number and who was allowed in. While popular at first because of the high prestige factor of its creator Orkut Büyükköten (one of the creators of Google), Orkut’s shortcomings led to its demise. Like the secret school club, boundaries and restrictions didn’t allow for organic growth, development, or diversity of audience. In the Brazilian culture, social media is highly utilized and regarded when it comes to online retail sales since outdoor advertising is prohibited. There is a culture of ‘homegrown’ advertising which was share through social media. A high percentage of the population used social networking sites to research planned purchases. There was greater trust between its users especially since most were tech workers and students, and like the secret club, this trust made Orkut even more attractive. For the socializing aspect, on Orkut, members rated each other in such aspects as “sexy”, “cool” or “trustworthy” (and you know school kids are just as judgmental). Both the school club and Orkut started to fail when member needs weren’t being met; the school club had no resources for activities (or basically anything) and Orkut didn’t have, or add, the functions that its members needed and wanted, such as photo uploading and sharing. Other issues were membership was limited, incorporating online video, and there was the issue of blockages. Brazilian users were drawn to social media that included and allowed video, allowed users to blog, and allowed them to interact through social gaming which Orkut couldn’t enable. School club members, like Orkut users, wanted more. Orkut members, with their heavy reliance on social media for both retail purchasing and socializing, left for other competitive platforms, such as Myspace, Facebook, and Ning which satisfied their social and cultural needs. The school club members (to which I never could score an invite), left the secret club for others that had what they needed; open membership, and functions like a kickball team, arts and crafts projects, whatever. Without members, both the school club and Orkut collapsed.