China’s social media scene
Everybody knows China for 2 things:
China being the most populated country in the world
The copycat of the world
China literally copies everything, from electronics to even cars! Don’t believe me? Back in 2008, BMW had sued Shuanghuan Auto for allegedly copying the X5 design.
The above picture isn’t the X5 but the clone. Yeah even I was surprised. But BMW did win some cases and lost some cases (AutoNews, 2008). The full story can be seen by clicking here.
But back to the point, the copycat scene also continues to the world of social networking sites and that’s because China being the conservative country it is, blocked all social networking sites. When I say all I mean ALL. And once they realised there’s no other option other than to create a copycat version, the Chinese citizens did. They made replicas of SNS such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Flickr and more! The copycats had to be made, it was estimated by The New York Times that there maybe up to 600 million internet users in China (Background Check, 2013), so it makes complete sense why people would make them.
According to Synthesio, a social media monitoring and analytic company, EVERY western SNS has it’s Chinese copycats
Twitter has Sina Weibo (290 million active users) and Tencent Weibo (280 million users)
Facebook has a variety of copycats such as RenRen, Kaixin, Tencent Pengyou, 51.com and the most popular one QZone with 600 million active users
YouTube has Youku Tudou (475 million users) and 56.com (120 million users)
(Synthesio, 2013)
McKinsey stated that China’s distinct social-media users can segmented into 6 groups based on motivation and behavior:
Social Enthusiasts
Resenders
Readers
Opinionated users
QQ Spillovers
Inactive users
The first four user segments are normally more important than the last two for companies trying to reach Chinese consumers. These consumers’ differing motives for using social media and their purchasing patterns and influences should be considered when companies think about how to engage them.
Services even like WhatsApp don’t work there and they have a copycat or some say a better version called WeChat and a substitute for that is LINE.
It looks like the Chinese don’t need the more mainstream SNS as they have their own and are living happily with those sites. The good part about their websites is that they won’t be blocked anywhere in the world, so they can still access them once residents leave to another country and maintain contact.
It astonishes me how even in this day and age we’ve got to restrict people from certain products or services just because the government feels like it. But I guess that’s what can happen when people are given power.
REFERENCES
Shuanghuan Auto, (2008), CEO [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.autonews.com/article/20081218/ANE02/812189978/bmw-loses-chinese-clone-court-action [Accessed 23 May 15].
China Business Review, (2013), Crompton Map [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.chinabusinessreview.com/social-media-in-china-the-same-but-different/ [Accessed 23 May 15].











