The internet has become a global phenomenon, connecting over 5 billion people worldwide, representing approximately 63% of the global population. With such diverse users, speaking thousands of languages, one would expect a multitude of languages to be represented online. However, an analysis by web-scanning firm W3Techs reveals significant discrepancies in language representation on the web. While English dominates as the primary language for over half of all websites, languages like Chinese and Hindi, spoken by billions of people, have minimal online presence.
W3Techs specializes in tracking programming languages used on the internet and categorizes publicly accessible domains accordingly. By comparing their data with language usage statistics from Ethnologue, a renowned authority on global languages, it becomes evident that certain languages are grossly overrepresented while others are virtually absent online. English, German, and Japanese enjoy a much larger share of the internet than their native speakers represent. Conversely, languages outside the European realm struggle to establish a meaningful presence online.
Continue reading… “Language Disparity Online: Dominance of English Raises Concerns for Linguistic Diversity”
