Marketing Pilgrim

I know us Americans tend to view the entire world from our point of view, so it’s easy for us to think that the entire world rotates around Facebook and Twitter.

Not so!

Vincenzo Cosenza has compiled a world map of social networks–highlighting which networks are the most popular in each country.

As you can see, head to Brazil and you’ll find Google’s Orkut thriving. Take a trip to Russia and you’ll see Facebook clone Vkontakte holding firm.

I was able to find a similar map from June 2007. It’s easy to see just how quickly Facebook is taking over the world:

PS. If you prefer tabled data, here’s the 2009 breakdown:

(via)

OK, I have learned my lesson. I am going to tell you right out of the gate that when I read this piece of information about Twitter turning a profit in 2009 I was a bit skeptical. Now, the second part of this is that the source, BusinessWeek, is well, BusinessWeek so I tend to pay attention a bit more. Well, the times they are a changin’ for sure because the distinction between the venerable BusinessWeek and the rest of the Internet space may be less noticeable than before. As I went through the article I read the following

While it’s easy for us to predict the decline, and ultimate death of mainstream media, I wonder if we know what we’re letting ourselves in for. Take, for example, the recent incident that involved a Washington D.C. detective and a “tweetup” snowball fight.

Mashable alerted me to the story. With a couple of pics and a video, it’s easy to believe that the cop overreacted and should lose his job:

Now, I’m certainly not bashing Mashable here–they took the social media angle that appealed to their readers–but let’s look at the “citizen journalism” side of this. Viewing the photographs and cell phone video, you might confidently predict that there’s not much the police officer can say to defend his actions.

As the great Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over” and the deal between Yelp and Google is the latest proof of that. In the Internet space in particular an extra dose of caution is recommended when hearing a ‘rumor’ (i.e. something that comes on ‘good authority’ and is almost a done deal) to take a step back and give the rumor a chance to breathe. Unlike a bottle of fine wine, though, rumors in this space often go south but that’s just part of the space.

The latest ‘event’ that received the treatment of a lot of attention but didn’t finish as rumored was the ‘deal’ between Google and Yelp. Last week we told you of TechCrunch’s report on the imminent Google deal to purchase Yelp.

<snarky>

So we all know how incredibly awesome I am, right? Well, even though it’s painfully obvious to me and you, I still like to remind myself from time to time. I do this by re-reading my favorite tweets, taking really good pictures of myself at my new favorite social media site, and sometimes late at night, I call my cell phone and leave a message on my voicemail just so I can listen to how awesome I sound!

Google Street View began its European adventure a while ago—and it’s been met with resistance in more than a few places. Switzerland, like several other countries, was concerned that Street View wasn’t sufficiently blurring people’s faces and cars’ license plates, and that the height of the camera meant they’d see over privacy hedges and fences (which, even in the US, might constitute a breach of privacy).

Today, the Swiss government tells Reuters that Google is already ready to accede to its pending ruling. The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) Hanspeter Thuer brought the case against the street-level panoramic photo mapping service, and though it hasn’t been heard yet, Google is ready to comply.