I got into orkut this weekend. Man, been roaming around that place for awhile. I... I honestly don't know how to explain it beyond the fact that it kicks ass in a major way. I wasn't even finished signing up and was already building a network with folks.
Me, I'm a internet junkie. Whether it be irc, im, Jabber, blog, or forums -I like to met new folks and chat with them, and orkut makes it easy to do just that. You have a Friends list and a Community list. The Friends list is just that, your friends. The community is kinda' like Yahoo's groups but with a forum posting ability twist. When you make a new friend you're also networked with their friends, so in making one friend you get connected to a lot of others. You can (as I mentioned) post on the community boards, send messages to your friends, IM and things like that. It's all free and no strings attached.
But google/orkut is pretty stern. You can't pretend to be someone your not, meaning you MUST list your real name and place you live. If you show a photo it has to be of YOU, not kids, pets, or something. Those things will get you kicked off.
The bad thing is orkut is beta. That means that the server goes done in the least opportune times, so you have to be prepared for the "bad, bad server" message. That all is suppose to stop this month. It's worth it and was worth the begging and pleading to get in.
As for invites, I still have some gmail invites. As for orkut... Post a message on here and we'll talk a little first. It's worth it.
TTFN
Zymosius