Yahoo Philippines has launched a new community site, and it’s announced the site’s presence with a hearty, “Mabuhay, Pinoys!” The goal: to allow “Filipinos across the globe to connect to their communities and the world’s knowledge.”
Yahoo Pinoy Connect (yes, the name is pretty easy to guess based on the previous paragraph) has actually been around for a while, but its new incarnation should offer a number of improvements. Hence the use of “mabuhay” (a friendly form of greeting) – fresh introductions are necessary.
“The new Pinoy Connect website, besides engendering Internet education and awareness, now provides a platform for the online Filipino community,” reports Lawrence Casiraya for Inquirer.net. It also features “a collection of relevant social and user-generated content and localized social Internet tools, including localized versions of Yahoo! Answers (social search), Yahoo! Groups (online communities), and Flickr (photo sharing).”
In case you’re questioning this move – I know the Philippines aren’t a big topic of discussion in Lexington, Kentucky, at least – Casiraya notes, “Yahoo runs around 20 similar country-specific sites including neighboring countries Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.”
On the less-formal Inquirer.net blog, he adds, “What’s next, Yahoo! Kazakhstan?” Yet the Pinoy Connect development also comes just weeks after Yahoo’s Flickr added support for seven new languages. And who knows – if Yahoo Pinoy Connect is successful, perhaps the Philippines will come up more frequently in the U.S.
Hat tip to Loren Baker.