Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
Gulf News
Dubai: Arab entrepreneurs witnessing the phenomenal growth of Facebook, the US-based online social networking site, are aiming to be the first to develop its equal in the Middle East.
In the US, the site has emerged as one of the top-ranked websites measured by page views and photo sharing.
In the Middle East, at least two companies have been formed to develop social networking communities for the Arab world, and say they have attuned their online communities to Arab cultural sensibilities and perspectives.
After logging in his first experience in Arabic websites a decade ago at Arabia.com, Majid Qasim is now chief executive of d1g.com, a six-month old social networking site based in Amman. D1g.com is named after its phonetic equivalent, diwan, meaning a place where people come to converse.
Given the strong bonds of family in Arab culture, Qasim said local networking sites should have built in features for families to stay in touch.
"We have a different approach, " he said. "Our sites make sure we have packaged the site differently, and make sure the emphasis on family appears."
Another site with a numerical bent is Faye3.com. Fresh on the heels of winning the Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Competition out of a field of 92 teams, Faye3.com also harbours hopes of creating the largest social network in the Arabic-speaking world.
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The site was developed by Sohaib Thiab and Hussam Hammo, who have partnered with the Maktoob Group, an established family of websites which is positioning itself for the social networking field.
Like d1g, membership to Faye3 is free and members are invited to build profiles, post pictures and videos, create blogs, and share private and public images.
But challenges remain for Middle East web entrepreneurs.
Currently, Arabic content measures around 150 million Arabic web pages, compared with over 30 billion web pages worldwide, according to Dubai-based Madar Research.
Low internet penetration rate in some Arab countries are hampered by this lack of Arabic content as well as illiteracy rates, which stand at over 40 per cent in some Arab counties, according to Madar.
Some, like Qasim, only see opportunities. "As a number, internet penetration in the Middle East is low, but in terms of the speed of adoption it is double the normal rate," he said.
Top ten non-English language networking sites
- Korea: www.cyworld.co.kr
- China: www.xiaonei.com
- Germany: www.studivz.net
- Netherlands: www.hyves.nl
- Japan: mixi.jp
- Russia: vkontakte.ru
- French: www.skyblog.com
- Latin America: www.migente.com
- Poland: www.grono.pl
- Hungary: www.iwiw.hu
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
