Orkut, the social-networking site that is still only loosely ‘affiliated with Google’ (perhaps because of lawsuits, or its rediculously slow performance…) announced in an email to members today that it was launching a new ‘Media tab’ where members could rant about things they are passionate about:
“When you land at media.orkut.com, you’ll venture into the realm of love and politics and beyond. Here’s a quick lay of this new land: the “Porch” offers a variety of columns ranging from the hot and humorous to the thoughtful and thought-provoking, along with galleries of riveting photos from around the world. The “Lounge” and “Studio” will contain archives of all the collected orkut media material (on the off-chance that you miss a week), along with tidbits about contributing writers and photographers.
orkut media can be viewed by anyone surfing the Web. And it’s open for you, the orkut member, to submit your own work. Got something to say? A perspective that you think needs to be heard? Go ahead and send us a column, write us a letter, or forward a photo.”
Feed syndication? Nope, at least not yet… which makes this smell all the more like a desperate plea for a real purpose for the service (i.e., a reason to go to the site on a regular basis)…
For my money, Tribe.net’s more topic-focused “Tribes” (with RSS feeds, naturally) are a much more compelling experience.
Update: Typos corrected