Orkut simplifies social sharing with new update

Starting this week, Orkut is simplifying sharing of information on its social network between different user groups through an update, stated the official Orkut blog.

The algorithms behind Orkut's updated platform suggest groups from each user's existing contacts, based on that user's interactions and connections. Users can freely accept, reject or edit group suggestions from Orkut. This will empower Orkut users to greater privacy and security over their shared information.

In addition, Orkut users can now create their own groups according to interests they define, making it possible to communicate in a manner that is as private and personalized or extensive and broad as the user desires.

"We've created this new functionality to give Orkut users more privacy and control over how they share content. They will now know with certainty whom they've authorized to see and interact with their information online," says Mr. Victor Ribeiro, Product Director for Google. "Innovating to match the ways users interact online, while maintaining strong privacy controls has always been a priority for us and will continue to drive every stage of Orkut's evolution."

Orkut users can now decide to make their Christmas photos visible just for family (and not coworkers); invite college friends to a happy hour (and not friends from work); and share their favorite music videos with just those friends with similar tastes in music (instead of everyone on their profile).

The new functionality will be available to some users starting today, reaching availability to 100% of Orkut users worldwide by the end of the week.