Social Networking Sites in China

The Social Networking Craze: A New Mode of Brand Marketing

While Facebook has defined the social networking experience and achieved rapid development abroad – various social networks in China are firing up the competition with the number of new sites that are popping up. However, as social websites are being homogenized as well as the pressures and influence of the Chinese netizens’ assembly effect; a lot of medium and small–sized websites are finding it hard to continue operations, thus allowing sites like Renren.com and Kaixin001.com to grow larger and stronger. Luxury brands and traditional advertising media partnership may see their long-term partnership being disrupted by potential consumers who are relatively young are tending to use new social media. Under these circumstances, luxury brands need to seek new marketing channels so as to conform to the new media environment and to seize new business opportunities.

The Universal Micro-blogging Era: Introducing the Concept of Brand Intimacy

There is no doubt that micro-blogs have had the strongest impact on Chinese social networks in 2010. Compared with social websites, the micro-blog welcomes much more diverse user groups: celebrities in the entertainment sector are “micro-blogging” in succession, social elites in all fields are “micro-blogging”, even various government departments are hoping to establish a more positive public image via “micro-blogging”, and masses from the grassroots movement have found a new platform to vent and to share their emotions. Because of this, Chinese netizens have given the micro-blog an amiable name, the “scarf” (which has the same pronunciation as “micro-blog” in Chinese).

Compared with regular blogs, the micro-blog is stronger in its speed of proliferation and instantaneity, and has more diverse content. Several major events of 2010 were initially stirred up on Sina Weibo, one of the most popular micro-blogs in China. For instance, Director Feng Xiaogang’s attack on the judging committee of the Golden Horse Prize, the “Qian Yunhui” event in Yueqing, and rumors that Jin Yong had died, etc. The micro-blog spreads various information and news on the Internet at an incredibly fast pace — almost like a virus transmission — with its influence not only affecting other new media but also attracting the attention of traditional media. Micro-blogs, which strike a fine balance between private and public communication, have become a platform where opinions can be expressed freely and easily, but have also become fertile grounds for various disputes and quarrellings — a characteristic that differentiates micro-blogs from traditional media.

There is a word limit for the micro-blogs, which requires users to express their opinions in brief phrases, thus making it an easy and convenient way to communicate. Throughout this process of back and forth conversation, deep discussions, and debates between micro-bloggers and their followers, the interactive function of micro-blogs is a feature that other social networks cannot match. Additionally, the interactive quality of micro-blogs lends itself well to crossing the boundary between the computer and the mobile terminal, thus exerting timeliness and randomness of the micro-blog to the maximum extent.

The Commercialization of Network Forums: Finding the Right Balance Between Clients and Merchants

With over ten years of development and maturity, the “network forum” has become an important outcome of the internet era, along the continuous development and widespread use of socialized media. Network forums are an emotional form of communication and information sharing with unlimited area and time. For brands going into network marketing, the advantage of network forums lies in attracting netizens with common interests by same subject. Netizens interested in the same brand will join a network community forum with the same subject to post, discuss and share brand value, information and make suggestions about the brand. Netizens active in these network forums can develop into potential customers and honest fans. Moreover, with so many subjects being posted on network communities, it can help brand marketers to better position their products by pertinently researching the market and advertisement. Namely, network forums are an important platform for brand holders to communicate with customers and to understand the online reputation of their brands. Meanwhile, the existence of network forums also allows brand holders to directly contact special customers to whom they wish to introduce their products and to advertisement, in order to improve the brand’s network marketing.

With new forms of social media quickly emerging, such as social communication websites and micro blogs, one needs to understand and grasp the fundamentals on how to handle network forums to effectively increase brand interaction and promotions in a non-spamming way.
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