[anonimo]

I'm not sure if it makes sense to call them "fringe". Orkut is mainstream in Brazil (though Facebook is about as popular now), just as Facebook in the US and Mixi in Japan.

Also note that Brazil has a large number of internet users, around 40 million. So Brazil is also a big target for auction sites, e-commerce, games, phone apps, etc. It just so happens that people don't hear much about those sites outside Brazil.

I'm quite skeptical that Badoo has 14 million Brazilian members. That would be around 1/3 of the internet-using population. That said, I suppose their success in Brazil (and elsewhere) is due to the fact they aren't really a regular social network, but rather a site for "hooking-up".

[helton]

I'm also really skeptical about the 14 million Brazilian members. I live in Brazil and never heard of this social network. (As opposed to orkut, that was very massive here.) However, I think that orkut is dying here. All my friends migrated to facebook because is "cooler". haha

[ricardobeat]

77.8 million internet users as of November 9.

That 14 million number is very questionable. Facebook has around 30 million users. I bet 13 million of those are inactive profiles that fell for their bait-and-switch.