“International Social Networking: Facebook in German, LinkedIn in France”
“Two interesting developments in social networking localization: Facebook today released a German-language version of the site, and LinkedIn has entered the French market in a bigger way by signing a deal with popular job listing site Apec. And speaking of translations, and French, and social network globalization, this very interesting map (in French) shows popularity of social networks in different parts of the world. Facebook is fourth in Europe, so perhaps a German translation will bump it up soon. LinkedIn does not appear on this map.”

“A Facebook For The Seven-Figure Set”
“A private social networking site for top-flight corporate candidates? Executive search giant Heidrick & Struggles is developing one, in an effort to streamline its recruitment of elite managers.”…”Heidrick, which has a global practice, is betting the site will become a destination for candidates wanting to view presentations by employers—and for clients, especially those who need to assess résumés and references quickly. ‘With all the time zones around the world,’ says Heidrick partner Jeffrey Hunter, ‘it makes for a very effective gathering point.’ The key, say Hunter and other Heidrick partners, is to offer greater privacy and security than the public Internet provides. The idea, says CEO Kevin Kelly, is to reduce the usual three- to four-month search time for high-level hires. ‘We’re an old firm with an old business model,’ Kelly says. ‘I’m thinking about how we help redefine the industry to respond faster.’

Take This Poll On Mashable!
“This week featured two more major platform announcements: the iPhone SDK, which allows developers to build applications for Apple’s mobile device, and Open AIM 2.0, an expanded developer program for AOL’s leading instant messaging software. Next week we’ll see the consumer launch of the MySpace Developer Platform (and as such, a significant launch for Google’s OpenSocial). Meanwhile, it has has already been almost a year since Facebook kicked off the third-party apps craze with its platform.” Which platform do you think is the best opportunity for developers? Click here to vote and view results.

“Russian YouTube Clone RuTube Valued At $15 Million”
“With about 400,000 daily users and consumption of over 40 million videos per month, the monthly revenues reportedly reach about $400,000. We actually mentioned RuTube in two blatant rip-off posts, so perhaps you’ve noticed that a lot of clones occur overseas, which also seem to be the most successful. Quintura mentioned this by noting that US-based clones don’t seem to catch the same kind of breaks we’ve witnessed in Germany and Russia, among other countries that are across the ocean. A $15 million valuation isn’t bad for the boot-strapped RuTube, which was started shortly after YouTube was acquired by Google. Well, that’s a dream come true, now isn’t it? The Russian market is heating up in the online space, with LiveJournal recently having been acquired by Russian company SUP as well.”

Robby Berthume: IMO, this last headline regarding RuTube shouldn’t be taken lightly. There are so many sites and start-ups that need to take notice of the opportunities in being the first-to-market in other countries besides the US. Much opportunity awaits in the globalization of social networking and web 2.0.