Solving virtual problems in reality in Azerbaijan

Difficult realities are sometimes hidden from the general public. This often happens in the virtual world. Read More »

Understanding disabilities in Kazakhstan with ‘more than a blog’

Of all the ideas and trends which cyberspace offers in Central Asia, health and social problems still lack representation on the web. Read More »

Kazakhs search for love with online Muslim dating site

With all the news in the past year about social media being used to organize protests, revolutions and better access to information, it can be easy to forget that the Internet can also be used to help people fulfill a much more fundamental human need: love. Read More »

First political viral video from Belarus passes 60,000 views

A new video from Belarus depicting President Alexander Lukashenko as an annoying bee harassing a journalist has reached more than 60,000 views since it was posted 29 February, making it the first political video in the country to go viral. Read More »

Iran blocks Eurovision website

Blocking online content in Iran is not news. But few may have heard that in Iran, music websites or contests can also be considered “enemy” content. Read More »

Moldovans get an unwanted case of holiday viral spamming

What are you ready to do for a pair of new glasses, for a movie ticket, for a romantic dinner, or for a new phone? As a social-media manager, I have to know these things so I can make more efficient viral campaigns. But what happens when an interesting idea for viral marketing transforms into mass spamming? Read More »

Google Street View coming to Bulgaria

It looks like Bulgaria is the next country for Google’s team to photograph for its Street View project.   Read More »

Internet trolls a sign of the times for Central Asia?

As if censorship, blocked access, possible arrest, and even retaliation weren’t bad enough, now Internet users in Central Asia apparently have a new scourge to deal with in their fight to have their voices heard: the dreaded Internet troll. Read More »

Cold weather ‘trending’ in Azerbaijan

The cold weather has done more than just descend on Azerbaijan, it also seems to have invaded its social media networks as well. Read More »

In Moldova sharing is caring, literally

Facebook pages do not just make the world smaller, but bring local communities closer especially if pages start from a simple idea and are not commercial. Read More »

Internet usage in Georgia

Only two percent of internet users in Georgia run their own blogs or read other blogs, forty percent mainly connect internet for social networks, twenty percent use to learn news, Forty-five percent search information, – a result of survey carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Centre (CRRC) in 2009 and 2011 following the order by Eurasia Partnership Foundation. Read More »

Online gambling a problem in Georgia

EurasiaNet posted a great article last week on Georgia and the increasingly serious problem of online gambling.  Already, the online gambling site Adjarabet.com is the second most visited website in the country.  The exact extent of the problem is unknown, according to the article, as Georgia does not issue licenses for online casinos.

Image courtesy Flickr user, Orin Zebest

Tradition gets tech update with Kazakh ‘IT Yurt’

A library in the east Kazakhstan city of Ust-Kamenogorsk is trying a new way to get kids connected to information.  Earlier this month, the city’s Pushkin Library opened a new IT center housed in a yurt structure. Read More »

Crowdsourcing tapped in initiative to add Kyrgyz to Google Translate

Kyrgyz speakers recruited on Facebook and other social networking sites have submitted nearly 30,000 pairs of texts in Kyrgyz and English in an effort aimed at getting Google to add Kyrgyz to the list of languages available on its automatic translation site.

Read More »