1. I discovered that most of my tons of Orkut spam (in Persian and English as well as in Portugese) came from friends of "friends" I didn't actually know. I used to say yes when people asked to be Orkut friends even if I didn't know them, figuring they at least had good taste in friends--heh, live and learn. I've "un-friended" people I don't know whose friends became a nuisance (sorry, John Kerry), so my friend-of-friend messages are again full of interest. Orkut has seen some very angry discussions of "Brazilian spam"--this problem would evaporate if Orkut made it easier to filter and/or delete messages. Orkut lets you make secret setting that Friend A is just an acquaintance but Friend B is a best friend--why not let you filter your FOF messages using that information?

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Betsy Devine

2. What's the difference if the spam is in another language? I had a lot in my box, since I don't Orkut that much. I changed my settings, thanks to you mentioning it.

I just joined StumbleUpon (that's the most interesting thing I've joined in a while), and they have language/s in our profile. If other social type services would do that too, then it wouldn't be too difficult to offer users an option to only recieve messages in their selected language/s.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Sherri

3. The problem isn't just about language. The impact on my experience as a user is profound. First of all, Google's servers (and or the lame code Orkut is based on?) can't handle the load - the user base has just grown too fast, whereas it was growing at a leisurely pace when the majority of users were from the United States. Secondly, netiquette is out the window. The original user base had so much in common, being mostly technorati, that common gaffes were avoided. There was no abuse of FOAF emails, posts were spare and to the point (and often gratifyingly hilarious) with judicious use of links, users knew not to easily take offense and to account for the vagaries of electronic communication. Now take all of that behavior and flip it on its head and you have what Orkut is today. A mess.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Laura

4. Sou brasileiro e nada me surpreende essas estat?icas. Os estadosunidensses sempre pensam que s?os melhores. O Brasil ?ormado por um povo bem diversificado, por isso somos t?conectados.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Leandro

5. I am sorry for the comment of this guy up here. He is stupid enough not to realize that people around the globe DO NOT understand Portuguese. I am brazilian as well, and when I want to be understood, I use other languages than Portuguese.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Flavio

6. Quero fazer novas amizades e trocar ideias,entre em contato comigo,sou uma mulher j?adura,quero que haja sinceridade.

Fique com Deus.otsuka2002@ig.com.br

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by maria de fatima pereira

7. quero ingressra neste orkut.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by samasco

8. Desejo pertencer ?ste grupo novo,por favor,n?sou adolescente,trabalho na TV GLOBO.
Abra?
Marcos

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by samasco

9. I don't get it. If I feel like writing my comments in French on the net, I will. Likewise English, Portuguese or any other language. Who does not care for a language does not have to read it. Who wonders what some word means is free to look it up in a translating dictionary. Americans need to lose their arrogance about a lot of things, including any misguided sense of having control over the choice of language used by other people to express an opinion. Feel left out? Learn Portuguese! Help a wonderful language survive into yet another century!

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by LizKat

10. Sou canceriana, tenho 25 anos moro em Cuiaba-M.T sou morena clara, olhos pretos e cabelos pretissimos. Tenho 1,54 e peso 45 Kg.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Melissa

11. estou ancioso para conhecer o orkut

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by adauto

12. ?muito legal a comunidade, se algu?quiser eu convido. At?qui nos coment?os n?nvadimos............ he he he

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Rafael

13. N??? Orkut que estamos(em maioria absoluta), estamos tamb?em maioria) no friendster.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Ruedlinger

14. Ouvi falar muito sobre o contato sobre pessoas no Orkut. Sou um empresario e vivo na Florida. Eu tambem sou solteiro e vivo aqui a mas de vinte anos. Gostaria de ter mas comunicacao com pessoas do sexo feminino. Sou muito ocupado e as vezes so tenho pra falar por e-mail. Por isso gostaria de fazer parte do Orkut.

adley_d@hotmail.com

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Adley DaSilva

15. Sou artista pl?ica e trabalho com reciclagem e meio ambiente. Adoraria encontrar amigos para trocar experi?ias e ampliar novos horizontes!

I'm an artist who works with recicled handmade papers and environment. I'd like to meet new people. Thanks if add me in Orkut.

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by N?a

16. Sou artista pl?ica e trabalho com reciclagem e meio ambiente. Adoraria encontrar amigos para trocar experi?ias e ampliar novos horizontes!

I'm an artist who works with recicled handmade papers and environment. I'd like to meet new people. Thanks if add me in Orkut.

niciamafra@yahoo.com.br

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by N?a

17. Gostaria de ingressar para o Orkut, por favor, algu?me convide !

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Danilo Marques

18. Gostaria de ingressar para o Orkut, por favor, algu?me convide ! dandymo@provedom.com.br

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Danilo Marques

19. Gostaria de ser convidada para participar do orkut....
Please invite me for orkut members...

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Renata Andr?de Lemos

20. Gostaria de ser convidada para participar do orkut...
Please invite me for orkut members...
ral.lemos@ibest.com.br

Posted at 8:03PM on Dec 18th 2005 by Renata Andr?de Lemos