Le Monde.fr : Réseaux sociaux : des audiences différentes selon les continents
Whoa. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep in mind how insular the internet can be. I’ve heard of most of these sites, but stuff like bebo, which screams web2.0 fanciness (doesn’t even display properly with flash 7), is new to me, but apparently is hot all over Ireland.
It’s very easy to start thinking that I’m aware of large swaths of the internet, or at least the important bits, but there’s no reason, say, French A-list bloggers wouldn’t also be neat to read, and follow.
I’m personally of the opinion that the language barrier has created internet “spheres of influence”, de facto communities barred to linguistic outsiders, with English serving as an occasional lingua franca. For instance, most tech companies, as far as I’m aware, are still predominantly operated in the English world (as shown in the linked graphic, Livejournal was recently bought by a Russian private equity group, iirc), and so places like Slashdot can still attract large groups of “foreigners”. Now that social networks have attained critical mass, as the internet comes of age I think we’ll start to see less reasons for people to have to venture outside of their own communities. Just click on your own language at the top menu bar.
I think this is less immediately obvious to people who only speak English. The internet has always been almost entirely in English, and I have to admit that only certain Google searches lead me to other languages. I do remember accessing the internet in ‘99 and ‘00, back in Portugal, and being astonished at the English world before me.
— On a side note, assuming we eventually move into a less silly interface for OpenID, I think it’s a very logical proposition for social networks to be ID providers. We’re already two steps away from yourName@facebook.com; I think such a large userbase, already used to prolific participation and change within the system, would be a game-changing event.
