Recently, tech website Mashable reported that Facebook is seeking to beat Orkut to dominate the Brazilian social media market. While Orkut has long been the leader in Brazil, Facebook has created new ways to lure Brazilians to its site. First, Facebook is now available in Portuguese, making access easier. Second, Facebook recently installed a new method to find friends, where users can upload their Orkut contacts to find them on Facebook, as the Mashable article mentions. Third, Facebook has a large variety of games and applications that you can play on the site, attracting new users merely to play games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars.

But the question is, will it work? Personally, I’ve seen mixed results. While tech-savvy and internationally-connected Brazilians have already been on Facebook for a long time, more and more middle class Brazilians have recently signed up for Facebook, but some wind up never using it, claiming it’s too complex and that Orkut is easier to use. However, less tech-savvy Brazilians have signed up for Facebook to be able to access the games, and aren’t as interested in the site for the social connections.

What about you? Do you think Facebook can beat Orkut in Brazil?