Why We Need Better International Web 2.0 Coverage

Image via CrunchBase

I get emails from Friendster occasionally and always forget to remove myself from the mailing list. I don't want Friendster mail because I don't want to use Friendster. Why? Because my peers are all on Facebook (or LinkedIn). I never really hear about Friendster in the web 2.0 circles anymore, either. This has me wondering...does anyone use Friendster anymore? Which brings up the further question - why doesn't Friendster just throw in the towel? Well, the answer to my first question is that, yes - Friendster is still used by many people. 90 million, in fact. It's just not very big in the U.S. and continental European markets. In East Asia, and particularly Singapore and Malaysia, it is the most popular social network! In the Phillippines, it is the second-most popular website, PERIOD.

Wow.

There are a lot of lessons here for me, but the biggest thing I've learned from my bit of research is this: Western news outlets deliver tech news through a Western lens. And that means that many of the real changes in social media, in adoption of new technologies, in the growth of companies worldwide, these things are all being largely missed by the Western tech crowd. We need better international web 2.0 coverage. We're missing the big picture.