Fancier Orkut

Orkut is Google's tool for social networking. They've been quietly adding features. The latest addition is Google Maps. You can now see a map of where all your friends are, depending on their settings.

I have an Orkut account, and I've tried out the new maps, and it is pretty nifty. However, if they want to take on social networking behemoth Myspace, Orkut is going to have to beef up the blogging capabilities. This is one of the shortcomings of rival social networking service Facebook, too. It's no longer enough to keep track of your friends or know how they're connected. You need to communicate and socialize with them online.

If Orkut integrated some blogging features from Blogger into the service, they'd really start to go be making strides in the right direction.

• Orkut
• Orkut Review
• Blogger
• Blogger Review
• Google Maps
• Google Maps Review