It’s now 2011 so we’ve short listed the TOP 8 Chinese social networks, ecommerce and search sites you must use (or at least consider) when creating your Chinese social media strategy. Big players such as taobao (listed below) is by far the most dominant force in online purchase for Chinese globally. Although the major social networks of RenRen and Kaixin and large, they do not always present the best options for modest companies (with modest budgets).
The Top 8 China Social Sites (+ Eccomerce/search)
Weibo: The Twitter of China. China blocked Twitter and other micro-blog technology (Fanfou.com) in 2009 when riots started in the Western region of wieboXinjiang. The government could foresee Twitter enabling the revolutions we are seeing in the Middle East (by the way, Malcolm Gladwell, you were incorrect, the revolution was indeed tweeted). Weibo remains and is growing. Interestingly enough, 140 characters maximum isn’t as limiting in Chinese as it is in English. Each Chinese symbol expresses so much more than each English character. Owned by publicly traded Sina Weibo means “microblog.”
RenRen: In 2006, Oak Pacific Interactive bought Xiaonei for around $4 million. It has since renamed it RenRen (in August 2009), which literally translates to “everyone.” With an estimated 120 million users, it is trying to become the Facebook of China. RenRen users are primarily high school and college students with Café Internet access.
Youku and Tudou: Think YouTube/Hulu marriage. Less stringent copyright enforcement enables as much as 70% to be professionally produced (often pirated foreign content). This differs from American YouTube, which is dominated by shorter, user-generated videos. While Americans watch less than 15 minutes of YouTube videos per day, the youth in China spend up to an hour on these sites.
For an extended list of Chinese social networks please explore the diagram below:
Top Chinese Social Networks
When planing to do business in China, it’s critical you understand how your business can address these popular sites. Contact Mailman for more information.
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