Just spotted in Orkut, Google's also-ran social networking site: a new Google+ badge, one of the first integrations between the two services. Orkut members who also have a Google+ account are now being rewarded in the form of a badge reading "Google+ user," which they can choose to make visible on their Orkut profile. No, it's not a big deal in terms of the feature itself (
TechCrunch seems perturbed by Google's decision to maintain Orkut as a distinct entity from Google Plus. I'm uncertain why though. Orkut has been Google's most successful social network, for a very long time (in a web frame of reference)! Orkut even grew its user base in Brazil during 2011.
Orkut remains the third most popular social network in India. I recall an Orkut Blogger post last year that showed Orkut having an audience of over 65 million ACTIVE users, primarily in Brazil, Paraguay, Pakistan and India. There doesn't seem any reason to merge Orkut out of existence, into Google+ or any where else!
