Global Social: A Quick News Roundup

As part of our ongoing global social series, this week we’re bringing you a look back at some of the top news stories about regional social networks during the two months of the year. Headlines this period cover new social apps, reactions to Chinese digital ID requirements, a shakeup in top social networks in Brazil and some big changes to how social data is being indexed.

Instagram comes to Mixi and Weibo

Popular photo-sharing app Instagram announced it would now support sharing to Japan’s micro-blogging site Mixi and China’s Twitter-like Weibo. Though still only available for iOS, Instagram has confirmed it is building an Android app.

Sina Weibo frustrated with Chinese government’s micro-blogging ID verification policy

Sina Corp. CEO Charles Chao indicated 40% of new users have failed to pass ID verification policies piloted by the Beijing municipal government. The policies, enacted in March, require all new users to provide their full name and government-issued ID number.

Facebook surpasses Orkut as top social network in Brazil

Recently released ComScore data reflects Facebook’s meteoric traffic growth in Brazil in 2011. For the first time, Facebook saw more unique visitors than previously-dominant Orkut.

Baidu increases micro-blogging coverage

China’s most popular search engine, Baidu, announced it would begin linking to real-time tweets on popular micro-blogs including Weibo, NetEase and Sohu. Baidu will now prominently display news and trending content from the micro-blogs’ users.

Kaixin001 announces 2011 results and new user totals

Following speculation that Kaixin001 would lose ground to other Chinese social networks, the network announced its registered users total had climbed to 130M. Though initial statements indicated the site saw 60M MAUs, this number was quickly denied by the company.

Habbo parent company Sulake announces layoffs, move towards open platform

Sulake reportedly laid off 25% of its workforce as part of a new business strategy. The company also appears to be moving its Habbo community towards an open platform, allowing third party developers to design apps and services for the site.

Yandex begins indexing social content

Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, has announced it will begin offering real-time Twitter searches in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Kazakh. The search engine will also start displaying public user profiles from the country’s most popular social networks including VKontakte, Facebook, LiveJournal and Odnoklassniki.

Renren launches first social networking app in Microsoft Windows 8 store

Chinese social networking giant Renren announced at the Microsoft (#client) Windows 8 Consumer Preview Conference that it was launching a social networking app designed for full integration in Windows 8. The app, Renren HD, is the first social network app showcased in the app store.