It is likely that you have heard about the social network Hi5, then again maybe not. While it does not rank in the top 10 social networking sites in the US - it does rank very high in most Latin American countries (in some even as the top online destination). I am not sure if there is any real explanation for this, Google’s social site Orkut is a favorite in Brazil. Neither of these networks were specifically developed for the South American markets…they have just been “overtaken” by them.

I have a profile on both: my Hi5 network is made up of my friends I made in Venezuela and Bolivia while my Orkut network has all my Brazilian friends I met while working at Terra.com. A little secret - most of them are on Facebook too. The question is, will any one country or region for that matter take over Facebook. Honor Gunday, the founder of one the largest social networks in Turkey, Zurna, coined this possible phenomenon as Orkutization.

It is always worth while to check out which social sites are the most visited in your country - you may be surprised and find additional communication opportunities.