This weekend I went out in a happy socializing mood and inevitably, the question popped up
“What do you do in China?”
It’s funny how most people ask you “in China” as if what you do is only relevant as long as you do it here…Anyway I gave my usual and vague answer ” I work in the Web”.
The girl opened her eyes wide and said
“Can you ask them to bring back Facebook?”
Well, sure. As a matter of fact, I am on my way to a little chat with the Politic Bureau see if I can pull some strings and ask them “C’mon, you know, we just want to update our status”.
Since Facebook was banned early in July this year, only 14 000 out of the 1 million monthly active users remain according to Facebook Global Monitor. The report does not mention the impact this has on us, survivors :
x We can’t randomly update status, tag/comment anymore to remind people on the other side of the world we still exist.
x We can’t upload party pictures to prove our relatives we are having so much fun away from them.
x Now we have to ask people what’s new in their life instead of just checking their profile.
x I can’t know what city should I live in or what would be my ghetto name anymore – this probably increased the productivity of foreign staff working in China.
x Most seriously lots of businesses like restaurants, clubs and hotels were using it to promote their events. How do they do now?
The web 2.0 situation is frustrating here : I can’t say how many times a day I come accross a blog or a website, an author and the guy is like “follow me on Twitter” “add me on Facebook” and I feel like a loser uninvited to parties – something I never felt of course in the real life.
Or maybe it is blocked
But why is Facebook banned in China?
x Insight 1 : Politics
As a group supporting political activism in Xinjiang appeared on Facebook, the government took sanction against the social network. According to article, Chinese netizens “agreed that Facebook should be punished for that” – nationalism is indeed very strong among Chinese Y generation.
What could have been done is ask Facebook to block such groups in China, just like Google was asked to filter results if it wanted to enter the market – but Google generates money as Facebook still struggle to find a long term viable business model so that leads me to :
x Insight 2 : Politics + Economic
What is the risk for a particpative foreign media/website/business with a popular concept in China ?
They are most probably very welcomed at first, then copied before being banned or blocked. They educate the market before their audience goes to local competitors who do it a lot better because of their better understanding and sometimes the support of the government.
As major foreign players cannot really play without China, they all expose themselves and face the same issue : Yahoo vs Alibaba, Ebay vs Taobao, Google vs Baidu…
This applies to all online models except micro-blogging which is not welcomed no matter what as we’ve seen with the blocking of popular micro blogging site Fanfou (back to theory #1). So basically in this counter-creative environment, foreign models are just used to leverage local ones.
What to do? For companies, I’d just say : Who might benefit from the crime? That’s your Achille tendon. Make sure you work with people, Chinese and foreigners, who have experience and a deep understanding of both the country and market. The human factor is the key.
What about you, lonely foreigner facing the Great Firewall ? Get a VPN. Move. Or stop complaining about it.
Peace x
Sources
One more reason maybe
Just remind everybody who the boss is…
Of Course
Great article-
- We have seen this trend across all product sectors, from manufacturing, automotive, digital and of course online- Government strategy to ensure strength of local brand.
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Do you think that Facebook will re-surface here or is facing complete extinction in China market?
Thanks Michael, it is just personal insights, and true, this applies in all sectors.
I think Facebook as it is today will not re-surface in China.
If there is a come-back it will be with compromises, and it won’t be from the Chinese side…
Microblogging is the same, it’s just that in this case the group of “competitors to local players with good government relations” also involved a local site. QQ’s twitter clone is still going along quite happily. Obviously Fanfou being a hotbed of liberals didn’t help, but I think it was probably pointed out to the filter operators by Tencent rather than something they decided independently.
PS the consensus on Facebook was taken from a poll of users on the Global Times website, which isn’t exactly a balanced sample.
Hi Kevin
Great to see comments adding value to articles
Thanks for the ps on Facebook, it’s true that we tend to be fed with press releases that don’t mention that kind of information
there is a big difference between foreign players and china players. When foreign players are blocked in china, there are just blocked in china. when chinese players are blocked… they are dead. like fanfou. rest in peace…
@ SEO Blog
Yes, this is why it’s even more risky to be a Foreign player alone in China..But if everybody thinks the same, then it means there are plenty of opportunities.
Anything worth doing has a risk
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by BuzzandtheCity: Why Facebook is blocked in China ? http://bit.ly/2tapFt (yeah why?)…
Chinese Nationalism will not save the Chinese from a conglomerated effort by the international corporations. Do you think the Elite club is so big that you can give Google a black eye and Ebay, Yahoo, and Microsoft don’t notice? You are basically stealing from International Corporations that are bigger than entire countries.
There is ONE reason why they haven’t all pulled out at once, Money. But if Western and Eastern European Sentiment turns against you (which can happen in a Split Second) the Chinese could learn not only what it’s like to be censored, but what it’s like to be cut off from the rest of the world. You want to learn to live like N. Korea?
Right now, CHINA is censoring Western Media. Do you want to know what it’s like for the West to cut China out of the internet game entirely? Keep it up.
The difference between Western Arrogance and Chinese Arrogance is that once pointed out, we appologize for our misdeeds. But because you can’t ‘lose face’ you revel in your misdeeds.
Dear Jason,
I’d appreciate 2 things before you give your 2cents :
1. Read the post
2. Do your homework
This blog is not opened to low class audience.
Hey sweet content there. keep it going.I seriously love to browse your blog.Last of all have nice day