Languages: February 2008 Archives

As we rolled out simplified and traditional Chinese, you may have noticed that we added a new globe icon in the hi5 language navigation (see upper right hand corner of the hi5 homepage). We offer hi5 in so many languages now, they don’t all fit on one line anymore! So, we’ve added the globe icon to support an ever-expanding menu of language options.

Looking ahead…

Over the next six months, we’ll be adding new languages every month, and have other exciting features to make hi5 locally and culturally relevant coming as well. To take an active role in the fun, please visit, join and participate in our Language Forum.

In time for Chinese New Year (新年快乐!), we’ve added simplified and traditional Chinese as hi5’s newest translations. Over 1.2 billion people use these two written languages – making them so common, they were a perfect fit for our growing Asian offering.

“Chinese” is actually a collection of many diverse dialects including Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, Min, Xiang, Hakka, and others. While Mandarin (the official language of China) is most often written in the simplified Chinese script, we provide the traditional Chinese script as well — to make hi5 readily available for as many Chinese-language Internet users as possible.

China has actually surpassed the United States in Internet usage, with over 150 million users spending nearly two billion hours online each week and a steady growth rate of 18% annually (see related Forbes article). With the addition of the Chinese scripts, we look forward to welcoming many new hi5 members in China, as well as those in other locations where the language is regularly used, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and more.

欢迎全世界的华人！