a Tuskegee study
February 26, 2004 9:04 AM   Subscribe

Popular social website revealed as college experiment. It seems the regarded Orkut is someone's master thesis.
posted by the fire you left me (29 comments total)
 
Trolled...

(read the last line of the page.)
posted by dmd at 9:07 AM on February 26, 2004


Sad that Orkut would be a lot more interesting if this was true.
posted by smackfu at 9:10 AM on February 26, 2004


Hey there's an original joke.
posted by mathowie at 9:16 AM on February 26, 2004


on top of this being a joke, isn't Google itself a PhD project?
posted by krunk at 9:29 AM on February 26, 2004


...Website which has attracted the attention of the some of the Internet's biggest names

Well, they did get Miguel's attention.
posted by orange swan at 9:31 AM on February 26, 2004


Yes, I'd like to know what Miguel and all the other users he invited think of Orkut now. ;)
posted by Lynsey at 9:33 AM on February 26, 2004


Nice title for this post. I think the two are clearly equitable.
posted by yerfatma at 9:56 AM on February 26, 2004


Yes, I'd like to know what Miguel and all the other users he invited think of Orkut now.

why would the fact that someone wrote a phony article about it for humor purposes change the way anyone felt about it?
posted by quonsar at 9:58 AM on February 26, 2004


I was just 'kutted this morning [thanks!]. I was quite horrified until I saw the article was a satire.
posted by VulcanMike at 10:08 AM on February 26, 2004


The web itself started out as a ninth grade typing class project by Tim and I.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:12 AM on February 26, 2004


I remember reading somewhere that Orkut was the personal project of one of googles employees. This developement doesn't surprise me a bit.... or bother me for that matter.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 10:33 AM on February 26, 2004


I took the invitation and nosed around the place. I'm not much interested in revealing my entire life on line to anybody, so I'll probably be summarily deleted if my obviously false name is discovered.
It seems kind of lame to me. Anyone want an invitation? Heh.
posted by Slagman at 10:34 AM on February 26, 2004


Yes, I'd like to know what Miguel and all the other users he invited think of Orkut now. ;)

Personally, I think it's pretty much just like friendster except without all of the people I know.
posted by toothless joe at 10:35 AM on February 26, 2004


OK, for those not-in-the-know like me, just how exactly is Orkut different from/more innovative than Friendster and other such sites?

Not that I wouldn't accept an invite if given one.
posted by laz-e-boy at 10:41 AM on February 26, 2004


I confess, I invented the Constitution as a lab experiment.
posted by Tin Man at 10:43 AM on February 26, 2004


Hey everyone, I'm really, really sorry about that cancer thing. I just wanted to win the science fair and everything got kinda out of control. Sorry. My bad.
posted by elwoodwiles at 10:54 AM on February 26, 2004


The reality is that those who get trolled (the trollees?) are the construct of a research project designed to test how the naive get treated online.
posted by liam at 11:14 AM on February 26, 2004


this post is turning into an aol.exe virus
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 11:16 AM on February 26, 2004


Even if this were true, why would it be bad?
posted by Mars Saxman at 11:18 AM on February 26, 2004


Been There. Done That. (in 1999)
posted by wendell at 12:09 PM on February 26, 2004


My favorite review of Orkut was something like "where else can you post your professonal interests in the hopes of getting a new job and let your prospective employers know exactly which of your holes you like fingered and by whom?"
posted by mathowie at 12:37 PM on February 26, 2004


Yeah, that's something your employer shouldn't know until after your first job review...
posted by wendell at 1:12 PM on February 26, 2004


Or perhap, during your first job review?
posted by dg at 4:09 PM on February 26, 2004


One of my primary rules of self-conduct is to avoid having any of my holes fingered. A corollary rule is that if I am at any point to change my mind about my hole-fingering preferences, that I resist the temptation to post that information on the internet.

This is one of the reasons I have ignored Orkut invitations.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:02 PM on February 26, 2004


Come back, Huy Zing!
posted by eddydamascene at 6:05 PM on February 26, 2004


Why do you think a popular social website revealed as college experiment. It seems the regarded Orkut is someone's master thesis?
posted by namespan at 8:39 PM on February 26, 2004


That's a beautiful story. Similar to the Masters study I did of MetaFilter. Really!
posted by squirrel at 11:25 PM on February 26, 2004


See?
posted by squirrel at 11:31 PM on February 26, 2004


hahaha. vatican.com. slick!
posted by quonsar at 9:58 AM on February 27, 2004


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