Aside from the Social Networks we all know and love today, there are many more out in the world that we have never encountered. There are numerous International Networks. Some Networks are very similar to the ones that we use today, but they’ve all got a little spin on them!
Netlog has joined forces with Twoo.com, so if you want to explore, visit that address! To bring it into perspective, Netlog is a mixture of Tumblr and traditional blogs. The social forum began in 2009 as ASL, then became known as Netlog in 2006 (through a series of name changes). There are 94 Million registered users, and the website has 20+ languages to accommodate their users. The forum targets global Youth demographics, where they can have their own website, in which they share blogs, pictures, videos, and events that their friends can all see. Netlog is the #1 social media forum in Belgium, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Romania, and Turkey!
Tuenti.com is the “Spanish version of Facebook”, in the sense that it’s based out of Spain and that’s were majority of their users reside. Tuenti began in 2006, but it didn’t kick start until 2009 and kept it’s popularity until 2012 (around the same time that Facebook took off). This is a private social media forum, in which you have to be invited to join by a person who already has a Tuenti account. It has up 54 Million users, and in 2014 it launched its forum in Chile and Ecuador, where they have had a positive response. Just like our Facebook, you can set up a profile, upload photos, link videos and connect, chat with friends, and even make events.
StudiVZ.net is the social media forum that I found most interesting. This is a German based “early Facebook”. It was launched in October of 2005, but it’s had a steady decline since 2009. In 2010, it was calculated that there were an estimated of about 16 Million users, but in 2011, it showed that only 5.9 Million of the 16 Million registered users were actually active. It’s the biggest social media in Germany, and ranked in the Top 10 Social Medias in Switzerland and Austria. StudiVZ was created particularly for college students and university students in Europe. Like a cross between Tinder and Facebook, you can post your name, age, subjects you study, courses you’re taking, and groups you are a member of on StudiVZ.
- Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
- If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
- You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
- Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
OBU Social Media 
Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
Netlog to me seems to be the most interesting because it is a different kind of social network than we are used to.
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
Netlog, a combination between Tumblr and traditional blogs sounds awesome and really different. I would like to try that.
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Probably because they are not frequented as much and are not as big as the social media sites they are trying to imitate.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
They have the same premise of just being pages that tell you about the site and how to sign up, however they are not as graphically sophisticated or entertaining as the big sites front pages.
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I do agree with that the sign in pages are not as graphically sophisticated as bigger sites! Great insight!!
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I think Netlog would be really fun to join to. Having Tumblr and blog posts in the same place is something different and exciting.
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It’s the best of both worlds really!!
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
I really liked Netlog’s premise because it does try to take on Tumblr! As I’ve said before, a true Tumblr competitor would need to match it with some of the features traditional blog platforms don’t, so I’m intrigued!
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
Definitely Netlog, mainly because I’m curious as to how it works in full. I’ve tried different platforms, so I’d like to dip my toes here!
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Think about Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Tumblr for a minute. All of these social networks were started in the U.S. and spread to other countries over time, and the U.S. is a great “incubation tank” for networks because we are home to people from a lot of different walks of life and who have origins in other countries. All of our networks and platforms spread because our citizens who have roots overseas sort of help create the demand to stay more in touch with friends and family overseas on a more universal platform; it makes more sense having everyone on one site than dividing time between five or six just to communicate with different sets of people. The reason international networks decline is because they stick to a niche market for the most part, unlike how our networks expanded.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
Similarities:
-social emphasis
-simple registration forms
-decent web design
Differences:
-primary language (Tuenti, StudiVZ)
-graphical mood (Netlog)
-app-first emphasis (Tuenti)
-No option for English (StudiVZ)
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Matthew I agree with you about the decline in international networks. I think sites like Facebook are becoming more popular.
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I like your answer to why I.N. platforms are declining. It is definitely impossible to grow if you stay in one niche. Excellent point.
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Staying in a niche wouldn’t have helped Facebook at all!
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I found Netlog interesting as well because of the similarity it has to Tumblr! I would have no idea what I was doing though! Haha!
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I thought it was interesting that StudiVZ didn’t offer any other languages. A very different approach than most sites.
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Yes I know! You would think they would, just so that they weren’t limited to just that one!
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Great insight Matthew! Keeping everyone on the same page, is very important and convienant.
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-I thought that Tuenti.com was the most interesting because it is almost identical to facebook other than the fact that it is in Spanish. It made me wonder if Facebook has ever thought about expanding internationally.
-Netlog. I like the fact that it combines tumblr and blogs. I think it would be really fun to use and see what other people post.
-I think that maybe users in those countries just aren’t as addicted to social media as Americans seem to be in this day in time.
-They all seemed very similar in the fact that you have to upload information about yourself in order to create an account. They also were simple designs. The differences would be language.
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I like your insight on the fact that some countries aren’t as addicted to social media as they U.S. Some countries also don’t have the same availability as we do to the internet!
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1. Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
I think I found Tuenti to be the most interesting because like you said it’s the Spanish version of Facebook
2. If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
I think I would join Twoo because on their website you can join through your Facebook so I feel like that would be the easiest one to join.
3. You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
I think it is because other social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are finding their way over to other countries besides just the United States. Sites like those are becoming more popular probably rather than the sites that are just for European countries.
4. Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
You have to put in the same information for those sites that you have to for our sites like Facebook and Instagram. The only difference I could really see is that the studiVZ site is in a different language.
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Julianna, I agree with you on your idea of why I.N. medias are declining. Because our social media platforms are so open to connecting with other countries, they are easily able to expand to almost any country, although there are threats to ban certain medias in Russia and China.
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Most of the sights have the same concept of the popular social media forums that we know. The creators may think that if the put a different name on it and promote it in different countries that their ratings will go up; along with the active users.
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I agree, I think the decline is coming from our main social media sites being so global. People from all over the world are using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They seem to be the winner over all because you can connect beyond borders!
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I think it’s interesting that the U.S. based sites such as Facebook etc are so much more popular worldwide. Maybe it is because we’re a bit biased, but they seem like they dwarf the I.Ns
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
I think Tuenti is probably the most relatable and interesting. I never thought about their actually being something so similar to Facebook in another country just because Facebook has users all over the world.
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
I guess I would join Netlog because it had the most professional looking log-in page.
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
I think there is a steady decline because Facebook has made itself available to be an international social media. With Facebook having the ability to link people all over the world, there is little need for one with geographic limitations.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
Tuenti looks relatively similar to Facebook, with the easy login in the top right hand corner. Studi vz actually looks kind of scary, but maybe that is because it’s similar to Tinder.
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I like your response to the first question! I never really thought about it, but I believe that I was unconsciously under the same impression; that there isn’t another “facebook-like” social forum because Facebook is so well known around the world!
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So true, I never thought about there being the same kind of site in another country!
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Yeah it is cool the Tuenti is geared towards Spanish speakers. I had never thought about it either! Social media seems so global, but it makes sense to want smaller sites for closer-knit connections.
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I completely agree with you on the decline in I.N. media. We both have the same idea and answered the same way.
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Great Minds think alike! 🙂
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I think we have the mindset of just because we have this particular social media site, they can not be duplicate or impersonated. I also didn’t think about there being a site like Facebook in a totally different country. It is very interesting.
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I completely agree!
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I can think of one word for Studi VZ…sketchy.
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I think StudiVZ is the most interesting. I would probably join that one because it seems easy to understand and practical to social media users our age. I think the steady decline comes from our worldwide globalization. Everyone seems to be switching to Facebook so that they are not limited to their own country or their own language. Some of my friends of Facebook are my best friends from other countries, two of whom are Dutch. They post in Dutch a lot, but we can write on each other’s timelines in English. We aren’t restricted to one language. The similarities in the sites are the efforts to connect people to each other, but from the color scheme to the set up of the sites, they differ from one another.
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That’s so cool that Facebook helps you stay in contact with your friends in other countries! I will say that Facebook has the upper hand on keeping people connected worldwide; it’s just so much more developed!
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I definitely agree that Facebook seems to be one of the most developed platforms!
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I thought Netlog was one of the most interesting of the networks. I did not realize that there was international social media! If I had to join one, it would be Netlog because the website looked aesthetically pleasing. I think that there is a decline in international network usage is because websites such as FaceBook allow for translation. They all have nice looking log in pages, except for StudiVZ – that website login page looked rather sketchy. There may have also been an advertisement on the login page.
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StudiVZ is very sketchy looking. I don’t think it’s moving anywhere soon either in it graphical design because of it’s steady decline!
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I too did not realize international social media was a thing. It seems like everyone would just use American sites because they are offered in multiple languages and connect you to an entire continent of users.
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
I thought StudiVZ was pretty interesting.
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
I guess StudiVZ, it would be cool to use on campus because its focus on college students and incorporating classes and such.
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Most of the internationals I have encountered love using Facebook to stay in contact with friends from home and here in the states. I get the feeling Facebook is almost as big a deal globally as it is here.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
Very similar, except StudiVZ was sketchy…
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It’s so crazy that one social forum, such as Facebook, can literally affect the prosperity of another social forum countries away! I think that just shows that once you really reach across the world with just a click of a button!
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
-Tuenti
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
-Tuenit, I think it’s something that would be more familiar to me than the other sites.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
-They are very similar, not much is different between the sites.
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Interesting to see you went to what is familiar. I wonder if any website will ever be brave enough to break the mold and make something new and quirky while remaining successful. Social Media sights have started to become too similar.
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There isn’t much difference in the sites, I agree! They all meet the same criteria for a normal sign in page
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1. I find Netlog most interesting because it of the fact that you can write on pretty much anything you want.
2.i would join tuenti because it is very close to those social media sites we know now and love. Many people don’t understand that change sometimes isn’t a good thing.
3. None of them have a thing that stands out, they all look very similar.
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I agree that Netlog is cool because you get to look up anything that interests you. This is why I think microblogs are so popular: because they cater to just about every audience.
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
Netlog
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
Netlog, I think blogging sites provide some of the best entertainment.
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Social media in the U.S. gained notoriety quickly and offer the sight in multiple languages
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
Most of them were very similar, which may be a reason for their decline.
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I love your insight about blogging! I think that is why so many people outside of the U.S. have netlog accounts, because blogging is very popular in other countries!
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
I like StudyVZ.net, simply because of the fact it is for college students and it is so similar to what we use on a daily basis.
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
I would again say StudyVZ.net because of my familiarity with Facebook.
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Other countries aren’t as social media obsessed as we are. The focus we put on knowing anything at a moment’s notice is unique.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use?
Tuenti’s log in is set up just like Facebook but it looks like an email page.
Any differences?
They honestly don’t look as professional or appealing. I would be much more drawn to the cool blue of Facebook as opposed to the puke green color of Tuenti.
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Other countries aren’t as obsessed as we are with social media! The U.S. is the most advanced when it comes to social media and the world wide web, so I believe with that advancement, we tend to have a bigger hype on social media itself.
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Which on of these I.N. do you find most interesting?
Probably Tuenti, as it takes a pretty common theme among social media popular here in the U.S.
If you had to join one, which one would it be? Why?
I would join Tuenti because I love any excuse to use my Spanish!
You see a steady trend of decline in really any I.N. in the world outside of the U.S. Why do you think that is?
Networks that are native to the U.S. are starting to be used more and more internationally, so the need for and appeal of these smaller, regionally-based networks is declining.
Go to each of the sites. Don’t make a profile, but look at the sign in pages. Are there any similarities you see between them and the social medias you use? Any differences?
They are all pretty much standard for what you’d expect for a sign up page–name, age, email, basic information. None of them are as polished looking as the social media common in the U.S., which might drive some users away.
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