Technicultr » Trends http://technicultr.com social media + culture Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:46:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Using Social Media to Engage Multicultural Communities http://technicultr.com/2010/05/15/using-social-media-to-engage-multicultural-communities/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=using-social-media-to-engage-multicultural-communities http://technicultr.com/2010/05/15/using-social-media-to-engage-multicultural-communities/#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 16:25:55 +0000 Jessica Faye Carter http://technicultr.com/?p=570 I recently presented at the Web 2.0 Expo – San Francisco on culture and social media. My specific topic was on using social media to engage multicultural communities. The presentation deck is below:

]]> http://technicultr.com/2010/05/15/using-social-media-to-engage-multicultural-communities/feed/ 0 Middle Eastern Tech Poised for Growth http://technicultr.com/2009/12/03/middle-eastern-tech-poised-for-growth/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=middle-eastern-tech-poised-for-growth http://technicultr.com/2009/12/03/middle-eastern-tech-poised-for-growth/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:34:51 +0000 Jessica Faye Carter http://technicultr.com/?p=499 The Middle Eastern tech world has been around for some time, but recently there has been some solid activity that points to increased technological growth on the horizon. Here are some updates you may have missed (these are primarily focused on the Arabic tech community, a subset of Middle Eastern tech):

1. Yahoo’s acquisition of Maktoob. Yahoo! recently acquired Maktoob, an Arabic internet services company for $80 million, expanding its presence substantially in the Middle Eastern market. Maktoob (“letter” or “written” in Arabic) was founded in 1998 and offers email, search, gaming and related services with a reach of 16.5 million users. Yahoo!, which already had approximately 20 million users in the Middle East, plans to offer Arabic versions of its homepage, mail, search, news, sports and other features.

2. Innovation. New sites are launching that combine technology and the culture of the Middle East.  Ardroid is an Android community for Arabic users, and the search engine I’m Halal allows users to filter out content that is objectionable to those practicing Islam. Kzalek, currently in beta, is an Arabic desktop client for Twitter. I’ve long observed that technology “puts down roots” and prepares itself for growth by interacting with and adapting to local cultures. These sites are good indicators that technology is poised for growth in the local environment. The presence of tech news blogs like ArabCrunch and Next Web Middle East is another key indicator.

3. Foursquare in the Middle East. Foursquare, the popular mobile social network, includes two Middle Eastern cities, for those who enjoy playing: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Tel Aviv, Israel. More to come soon?

4. Downloads. Negotiations have begun to bring downloadable content (like iTunes) to the Middle East.

It’s fascinating to see how technology continues to grow and adapt to different cultures globally. Here at Technicultr, we discuss multicultural communities online. If you are interested to learn more about the Middle Eastern tech world, we recommend ArabCrunch and The Next Web’s Middle East edition. It looks like those blogs will be busy with technical news for a long time to come.

]]> http://technicultr.com/2009/12/03/middle-eastern-tech-poised-for-growth/feed/ 1 Pew Study: Blacks and Hispanics significant online status updaters http://technicultr.com/2009/10/26/pew-study-blacks-and-hispanics-significant-online-status-updaters/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pew-study-blacks-and-hispanics-significant-online-status-updaters http://technicultr.com/2009/10/26/pew-study-blacks-and-hispanics-significant-online-status-updaters/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:18:55 +0000 Jessica Faye Carter http://www.technicultr.com/?p=104 Updated: According to a recent Pew Internet research report, large percentages of Blacks (26%) and Hispanics (18%) are using status updating services, like Twitter, on the Internet. (Pew said they had insufficient statistical data to measure the usage rates of Asian-American users.)

Much of the involvement of African-Americans and Hispanic Internet users is likely tied to their heavy involvement in social networking sites and mobile Internet usage, both of which are closely related to the use of status updating services.

The chart below is a brief snapshot of adults using status update services on the Internet.

pewinternet

Source: Pew Internet

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