Hello Network

About Hello Network

In 2016, a familiar name in social networking, Orkut Büyükkökten, launched his second major venture, Hello Network. After creating the once-dominant social platform Orkut, which was shut down by Google in 2014, Büyükkökten, along with a small team of ex-Google engineers, embarked on a new mission. Their goal was to build a social network centered on passions and interests, a platform designed to foster real-world connections. The company was headquartered in San Francisco with a development office in Mountain View, California. The core idea of Hello was to move away from the broad, often impersonal nature of existing social media. Users would select from over 100 interests, or "personas," such as 'foodie' or 'traveler', and their content feed would be tailored specifically to those passions. The platform aimed to connect like-minded people, hoping to spark more meaningful and authentic engagement. The timing seemed opportune, launching in India in 2018 amid growing concerns about data privacy on other major platforms. Despite the founder's pedigree and a clear vision, Hello struggled to gain significant traction in a market dominated by established giants. By September 2019, the app had reached approximately 1 million downloads, a stark contrast to Orkut's previous peak of 300 million users. The platform ultimately could not build the critical mass needed for a social network to thrive. In April 2022, Hello.com was officially shut down, with a message on its website stating, "We are pausing hello while we get ready to launch something even better."