Simple site -- none of the noise that is on MySpace or Facebook

great

server sucks and the scraping is is toomuch guess work in knowing whether the person is online or not....will reply now or later... too cumber some checking for replies on your page and posting on the friends page etc etc.IM is the way to go . Otherwise an excellent idea, well thought. but server is always out of order fora few min each hour it seems:)

Would be a good site, but their server absolutely sucks. It's out more often than not.

Orkut's definitely improved over the past several months - its technical glitches (or "cookies," as it calls them) are a thing of the past, and its search engine has improved significantly. The site, which happens to be affiliated with Google, has a far more international focus than the others I'm knowledgeable of, with tons of Brazilians, Indians, Estonians, and other nationalities not only represented, but frequently dominant on various boards/threads. Depending upon your perspective this can be either good or bad, based upon one's own linguistic abilities. Regarding special features/format, I like the way the profiles are organized, as well as the "scraps" feature for public communication. Also, you never forget when your Orkut friends birthdays are, as it reminds you several days in advance. Overall, not a bad site.

I think this is a wonderful site to make new friends. Infact I was able to find a couple of my old friends too!! It is wonderful sharing opnions on various topics, know as communities.

After a slow start, I'm really liking Orkut. The structure of a social networking site built upon communities that are managed by users is really neat. I like the invitation only aspect of it, and the site itself is beautifully laid out and (finally) moving quickly. My only complaint remains the TOS, which clearly says that Orkut owns whatever is discussed in the Orkut forums, and the fact that without moderators to prompt discussion, discussion seems to lag. If anyone wants an invite to join, just message me.