Why is this important? Well, with such little Arabic content available online, this gives Arabic speakers the opportunity to converse in their own language. With all the media planned, Facebook has been smart in bringing this to market. Arabic speakers are increasingly more educated, tech savvy and forward thinking, and should be given the opportunity that other native tongues already have. Our world is already anglicised enough as it is.
Although Facebook has been accessible in English across the Middle East since it opened beyond the US college network in September 2006, its Arabic language version puts in in more direct competition with popular regional sites including Jeeran, Maktoob, ArabFriendz and Kalam Arab.
Facebook launches Arabic version
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3 comments:
RE: "Arabic speakers are increasingly more educated, tech savvy and forward thinking..."
Are you indicating that until recently Arabic Speakers were less educated and tech savvy or forward thinking? As far as I know (and I really do like to be corrected) Arabic speakers have been always "educated" if not more, have been faster to adopt "tech" products e.g. mobile phones in KSA??
Please throw some light...
announcing facebook in arabic and hebrew at the same time is of course linked to that both languages are RTL (right to left) but also is targeted against the significance of the arabic user which in fact there are 250 million arabic speaking people and only 7 million hebrew speaking which is really lowering the expectation from the arabic community in alligning it with a language of only 7 million!!! Such work should be boycotted and we should backup the arabic generated social networks like a new website www.fameego.com which is arabic/english and is created and owned by Arabs
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