“Invent our community” says the title of the Yagg community network. Yagg communauté is a French speaking gay and lesbian network with thousands of active members from around the world. Users find their way to the network through it’s parent site Yagg.com. The two are seamlessly integrated. Users also discover Yagg from their friends who have made use of the Twitter and Facebook connection option.

The Yagg sites have enjoyed success because they offer a place of refuge for French speaking homosexuals who can “Communicate freely with other gays, widen your network of friends and meet political and cultural associations, parties and institutions.” The site is incredibly well designed, making navigation as easy as 123. There are three main tabs on the tool bar providing links to the parent site, the network and a blogs page providing links to all the member’s blogs.

The standard features provided for SocialGO sites are amongst the most valuable and are advertised as such on this network. People love being able to share opinions and experiences using blogs, forums, groups and photo and video uploads. By accentuating the obvious benefits of these features, Yagg has attracted and maintained a healthy online community. The blogging aspect of the site is enhanced by the WordPress plugin, integrating an existing word press blog with the social network. Owner, Xavier Heraud keeps close tabs on his site’s progress with vigilant moderation. This is assisted by the visitor radar widget which provides him with valuable analytic data about site traffic.The latest activity feed has also been important for him, “It has become central in our community. The users see it as something they have in common. We’re not a community where everyone is on his own, talking to his or her friends.” He explains. “A real community is born, bigger than the sum of its users. That’s priceless.” Xavier is one of many owners of non English language networks, it’s easy to set up, because, as he explains, “There is already a pack in French!” Xavier does not charge his members for signing up but he does make money from his network by providing ad space to relevant institutions and selling merchandise from his site.