Orkut Key Trends and usage Insights

Orkut is India's largest site and according to Comscore Orkut is the number one web property in India with over 17 million active users that comprise 48% of India’s online population and so is the best place to mine for user trends and with a recent effort to increase buzz Google has released an Orkut zeitgeist and some media coverage. From the coverage there are some key insights about Orkut itself to take away

1. Orkut is getting a lot of mobile usage and owners of Mid Range Phones ( Rs5000-Rs15000) are heavy users of Orkut on phone and they use it to scrap others.
2. The Orkut user base is primarily between 18-30, mostly students from colleges. So primary usage does come during weekdays when they go to cybercafes. There is the office population but it isn’t as much as those from cybercafes and homes.
3. Most of the users are English speakers and the transliteration tool has not really served the purpose of getting regional language speakers on the net.
   
4. Regional Communities like Tollywood perform better than Bollywood which denotes that orkut and hence internet penetration is more in South India than in North India
   
5. Most high schools, reality shows have communities and active discussions.
6. Stock market based communities are increasingly becoming popular in small towns.
7. Everyone loves to 'scrap' but 'photo' sharing and comments are the new fad.
8. Rahul and Neha are the most popular names on orkut
9. Women and Men meet half way for 'chats’. Women care more for Horoscopes
10. Citizen journalism is very active on Orkut with lots of self-help and NGO groups being formed on Orkut

Additionally Top Communities on Orkut are

1. "StYlIsH PeOpLe"
2. "India"
3. "Chocolate"
4. "MTV & still more MTV!"

There are a few things to take away from this Astrology, movies (regional specifically), Fashion, stocks are the themes on which you can find lots of users on orkut and they are the ones that can be targeted. Office usage is limited mostly because of widespread Orkut ban in offices and that means that for wider e commerce purposes Orkut is not the best place to advertise since you are more likely to find college students on Orkut.
(based on medianama interview and orkut zeitigist)