July 22, 2011
Technology, and most particularly the Internet in its very social incarnations (e.g. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.), were all the rage during the uprisings in the Muslim world (and elsewhere) of 2009 and after. Yet there are distinct limitations to the power of technology which we would do well to remember. In this post we’ll look at the influx of technology, where it has been useful, and where hard non-technological work remains. 1. Internet usage is growing explosively in the region, and will continue to do so. a) In the early part of the 2000s, Internet usage was available but not [...]
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July 22, 2011
A new infographic from visual.ly charts the rise of Mandarin on the Internet. China gained 36 million new Internet users in 2011, reaching over 440 million users in the country–more than the population of the United States. Some speak English but most speak Mandarin. A high percentage of people in English speaking countries are already using the Internet–but China’s 440 million users only represent about half of the total Mandarin-speaking population. China’s got a lot more people it could add. What doesn’t show up on the chart: India (because of course it’s broken down into a lot more languages, obviously). [...]
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