South Africa’s newest social media network, Toeter, is the Afrikaans version of Twitter. Launched last month and open to anyone over the age of 12 proficient in Afrikaans, it’s the world’s first Afrikaans social media platform.
Founder Frans Roelofse said he felt that an Afrikaans social media network was needed for vernacular speakers to communicate in and celebrate their language. According to The Media Online, Roelofse said: “There is a worldwide trend called digital tribalism, which means users join their own ‘tribes’ on social networks, so we see a kind of splintering on social networks. That is why I believe there is a market for smaller, local social media platforms.” Roelofse says there are already tens of thousands of users on the platform, and the goal is to have half a million users by next year.
Toeter looks much the same as Twitter – the only visible differences are that it’s in Afrikaans and in yellow. You sign up for free and create a profile with a photo and a short bio, and share images, text, videos and links in “toets” (like tweets). Like on Twitter, your homepage has a timeline with a list of posts shared by the people you follow, with a toolbar on the left hand side from which you can post toets, search for people or hashtags and change your settings and profile.
There’s also a sidebar with a list of popular hashtags – everything from #bliksem to #idoomvandiweek.
In addition, there are magnets to follow – which work in same way as hashtags in collating a stream of tweets around a topic.
Writing a toet is exactly the same as on Twitter – you have a limit of 140 characters, and the option to include a photo in your post.
Overall, I like the clean, simple design of the platform and it’s easy-to-use interface (which is particularly easy to navigate if you’re used to Twitter). What I like most about it though is the sprinkling of Afrikaans humour throughout the site – the “nee wat” on the toet post, the character @TanniePoppie, whose tweets you can find on the magnet “Tanpop”, who tweets 140-character recipes, and “Kieks en flieks” (photos and videos) on a user’s profile.
It’s all delightfully colloquial and cosily familiar. Let’s hope this is just the start of more social media platforms developed in South African languages.
Will you be giving Toeter a go?
