'Social media are leaving the sad and anxious people. We want to change that, "says creator Orkut on your new network

Orkut Büyükkökten left Google in 2014 to create a new social network, Hello

12 years ago, the Turkish engineer Orkut Büyükkökten became famous in Brazil to lend his name to the site that popularized in the country the concept of social media. Now he is back with a new - and ambitious - works in the area: the social network Hello, who arrived in Brazil in July.

The Hello was officially presented last week as a network to make and maintain "deep friendships" with other people based on mutual interests and passions and where the "fear and hatred have no place."

It's the way the creator Orkut believes it can help resolve an issue that comes away some people this kind of service.

While there is still the question, there is room for another social network among Internet users?

"Since we launched Orkut social networks have evolved a lot, but not always in a good way. Studies show that, today, they leave a lot of sad or anxious people," says Büyükkökten in an interview with BBC Brazil.

"A person uses Facebook thinking about how you want to be perceived publicly, interact with others trying to pass a certain image, but that is not authentic or fun. We want to change that and be the next generation of social networking."

The engineer gives the example of a couple of friends who are getting divorced, but recently published a post in which seemed pretty happy to have a picnic in the park.

"At the same time, see this 'happy life' of others makes us afraid we are missing something in our own lives. A social network may not have these effects. It should make the best of people."

Personality, interests and points


When creating profile, user answers the questionnaire and indicate its main interests

The way to do this, he said, is to create connections between people based on what they like best. Be among friends and acquaintances or between those who still do not know.

When creating your profile, the user replies to a questionnaire with 60 questions to identify your personality and then elects the five topics that interest you.

There is a list of a hundred possibilities, ranging from everyday items, such as being in love with dogs or sports to other more unusual, as like nude, striptease or "people watching".

This determines the type of publications that will be seen by a member of the social network. Personal characteristics and interests can be updated over time.

You also earn points, called "Hello currencies" to generate own content - text or photos - and win Tanned and comments on your posts.

These points can be accumulated - or bought - to raise the level of category or a profile, as with a video game character, extend the reach of a publication or posting anonymously.


Members accumulate points that can be used to publish anonymous post

Since Orkut, Büyükkökten says, social networks have gone through many changes - and one of the main ones is the form of access, which increasingly occurs exclusively by phone.

So in his second foray into this universe, the engineer has created a service that can not be accessed by browsers, but only through the app, available for iOS and Android.

Competition

At the same time, over the last 12 years, there have been a number of new social networks. There would be room for one more?

"Actually, there is a fatigue as social networks. People subscribe to different services for different reasons, and to be so many of them at the same time generates a weariness," says the engineer.

"We do not expect people to stop using the other, but that use our service more and more, because when updating their personal characteristics over time, this will change your individual experience, and the social network will evolve with you. Do not you need to replace a service for another as your lifestyle changes. "

Rachel Recuero, a researcher in social media and professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and the Catholic University of Pelotas, believes that there may be room for Hello.

"Today, there is a certain Rancid Facebook, which universalized too. There are younger generations who use less and less," says the researcher. "At the same time, in recent times, some harmful effects were most apparent in Brazil, as people who were exposed too much or sparred with family or friends (for account postings)."

Back to the origins and anonymity

Recuero considers "interesting" proposal Hello and sees in it a rescue of some characteristics of the first social network launched by its creator.

"The Orkut communities were already places to find people with common interests, but after its use was being modified by the user to display their personal characteristics. There was also a game aspect to be able to evaluate others with hearts to tell whether the person was sexy or gelinhos to say whether it was 'cool', "says Recuero.

"It may be a return to the original idea, only improved. But, basically, meets a fundamental characteristic of human beings, because we love meeting people who like what we also liked."

However, other social networks where users could make publications without revealing your identity failed before the rain of criticism and complaints about offensive comments.

Recuero agree that anonymity can be an incentive to the publication of hate speech and the spread of various types of prejudice.

"It is a resource for a person to hide in expressing radical views, and this can be dangerous, but everything depends on how this feature is used," says Raquel Recuero, researcher and professor of the Graduate Program in Communication and Information Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

Büyükkökten says he is not worried about it. "Without an option to express an unpopular opinion without fear of reprisal, users end up creating other accounts with fake identities that clog the system," he says.
"If anonymous posts have aggression or hate messages, the community can report it to prevent it from spreading. This reduces the reputation of those who publish and affects how the content posted by that person will be distributed in the future."

Brazilian and social networks

The new social network is already available in five English-speaking countries - the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Will soon be available in other countries (and languages), such as France, Germany, Mexico and Brazil, which will be released next month, according to its creator, and not in August, as indicated on the social networking site.

"It requires a great effort, because there are hundreds of thousands of verbs and phrases in each language, and we want to ensure we have the best translation possible."

Büyükkökten says he was "honored" with the repercussion among Brazilian launch of its new social network in the country, appearing often on the list of most likely to use social networks in the world.

"Brazilian culture is itself very own social, so I think it is because of this that there is a high adoption of this type of site by Brazilians. We will not disappoint you."