Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Orkut, Vkontakte, and CozyCot.com social networks

Orkut
Orkut is a social network popular in countries such as Brazil, India, and Pakistan. The network comes from the Google family and requires a google email account. The premise of the network is similar to that of Facebook where the goal is connect with people based on interest, hobbies, and to stay in touch. The site was launched in 2004 and is now partnering with the National Center for Missing and Explotited Children to help catch predators online who have profiles through the network.

Vkontakte
This is based out of Russia and is the most popular network in Russia. It was established in 2007 and is the Russian version of Facebook with all the same characteristics. However, within Russia, this social network also serves as a business network much like LinkedIn. The name V Kontakte means In Contact when translated. The site itselfs offers translations into different languages in order for others to use.

CozyCot.com
CozyCot appeals to the women more so than men. It's a social network that globally connects women, but mainly those from Asian countries who may move to North America. The site is based in Singapore and was founded in 2004. The network is set up in message boards dealing with beauty, fashion, and various lifestyle products. Women are able to discuss and buy various products. This network allows women from different countries to share their experiences with various products along with exposing others to them.

post by: R.Cordell

italki.com & Skyrock.com

italki.com
italki.com is a site where you can go and create a profile with the goal of learning another lanuage (and you can do this for free!). 90 languages are represented and the site itself is available in 14 different languages. This particular social network is the first that focuses on learning a second language. This particular network was launched in 2006 and runs out of China. The page offers different groups to join in specific areas of language that you want to learn more about along with other links to more information. Recently, italki.blog has been launched so that individuals can connect with the italki team and this is done through a message board style of posting. italki is beneficial because it allows a multitude of people from various backgrounds and locations to connect without worrying about a language barrier.

Skyrock.com
Skyrock is a French social network that was established in 2002. Skyrock is referred to as the French version on MySpace because users can create profiles with media and music. Skyrock is actually a French radiostation who decided to make a webpage to connect with listeners from around the world. The site has evolved into even more and is very popular in Beligum and Switzerland. Skyrock also has a blog option and chat option that is translated into 16 different languages which are instantly translated from the site. Skyrock is the 7th largest social network.

An interesting fact about Skyrock.com is that the site was implemented in being used as a means for the youth of France to organize during the riots in November 2005. Many articles that I found as I researched referred to the riots and how skyrock.com's blogging capabilities allowed the youth of France and even around the world to express their distaste and issues with the government due to the site being translatable.

post by: R.Cordell

Qzone-the one and only

China continues to be a booming powerhouse when it comes to technology, most especially social networks. After some research, Qzone which is operated by Tencent, is the leading social network site and is a Chinese only portal. The difference between this social network and say Facebook is that this community is more based on virutal goods and products. Instead of a profile, users create an avatar similar to that of those in SecondLife, except these avatars are not mobile. They just serve as the face of the user. Sooo after reading about this Chinese social network, it makes me stop and think, when will this idea be translated over into our social networks? The main premise behind this network is there but no one has yet to translate or utilize the same software that the Chinese do. Also, Qzone is not really an option to you unless you can read Chinese which most can not. Another interesting plug with this no translation into any other language is that when searching for social networks in other countries, they have a translate option on the site that allows you to instantly translate the site into English. This is the first network I have come across that does not provide that option. Qzone is going to continue to prosper and grow as a network, but now I am waiting for the next version of it to be released where not only reading Chinese users can access it.

post by: R.Cordell
Article Source: http://www.web2asia.com/2009/02/24/the-world-s-largest-online-social-network-qzone

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Why Translate?

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