14 DAY TRIAL // When Google+ was launched last year, Google assured everyone that Orkut was not being threatened and that the social network would go on as it always had. Of course, what else could it have said to the millions of people still using Orkut, particularly in Brazil, when many were already deserting to Facebook.
It had to wait until it was ready migrate users to start pushing them to move towards Google+. Now, that is happening, albeit slowly.
The first step is offering a way to link up Orkut and Google+ profiles. Those that are active on both sites will see the wisdom in that.
But note that once you do that, your Orkut name and photo will come from Google+ and not the other way around.
This means that you will only be able to change them on Google+ and those changes will carry to Orkut as well.
"Every day we see more Orkut users creating their profiles on Google+ and sharing lots of interesting content there. Now we are making it easier for Orkut users who also use Google+ to share their updates with their Orkut friends by linking their profiles," Google wrote.
Beyond just linking the profiles, users will be able to post something to Google+ and have it published on Orkut as well.
In fact, all public posts will be automatically shared on Orkut as well, though you can disable this in the Orkut settings.
"Your Google+ posts to limited audience or specific circles will remain on Google+ only and will be subject to your privacy settings. As a result, linking your profiles will also make it easier for your Orkut friends to find you on Google+," Google explained.
All of this is optional, but the goal is obvious, Google wants Google+ to seep into Orkut, slowly but surely. It wants as many people discovering Google+ posts on Orkut, hence the automatic sharing, and it wants to get them to create Google+ profiles alongside their Orkut ones.
