Twittering in Tongues

60% of all Twitter users are international

Twitter is no longer just an American phenomenon. Over the past six months, international Twitter accounts have surged, now comprising 60% of all accounts. And international growth is far outpacing domestic growth.

What are companies doing to communicate with Twitter users around the world and in their native languages? That’s what this report will answer.

What you will learn from this report

By focusing purely on companies that maintain international Twitter feeds, this report is designed to save you hours of research. Specifically, this report is designed to answer the following questions:

1. What markets should we target first?
2. How should we name the Twitter accounts for each country?
3. What companies are leading in supporting international Twitter feeds?
4. How does Dell financially justify its significant investment in Twitter?
5. What are some of the inherent international limitations of Twitter?
6. What's the best way to manage Twitter feeds in heavily bilingual countries?
7. How do Samsung and Dell drive followers to their local Twitter feeds?

Table of contents

• Executive Summary
• Why Twitter Has Taken Off Globally
• Global Twitter Usage
• The Globalization of Twitter.com
• Twitter’s International Limitations
• Companies Taking Twitter Global
• Country/Region Analysis
• Twitter Naming Trends
• International Naming Recommendations
• Twitter by the Numbers: Brazil, Germany, Japan
• Profiles in Twitter Globalization
• Best Buy
• Samsung
• Dell
• Nike
• Twitter Globalization Checklist

About the Author

John Yunker has helped a wide range of Fortune 500 companies improve their global websites and application. He has experience consulting with some of the world's largest companies and has also worked as senior program manager at Microsoft. He authored the first book devoted to the emerging field of web globalization, Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies. John speaks at numerous industry events, including Localization World, Internet Retailer, and the Unicode Conference and has been quoted on global topics in publications including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He is also editor of the popular web globalization blog Global by Design.

The Web Globalization Report Card is a copyright of Byte Level Research LLC. Trademark pending.