With the huge rise in popularity of microblogging in China, it’s sometimes overlooked that there isn’t just one Twitter-like service, but actually dozens. While Sina's Weibo tends to grab all the headlines, it’s Tencent’s service that rules the roost in terms of users - and also in terms of having the most-followed celebrity in the world. And now there’s a new global social media star who has leapt over the former number one, Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang, with a staggering 26.9 million followers. It’s TV star He Jiong. Yes, he’s not ...
Tag Archives: Social Media
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![Singapore’s Social, Smartphone-Luvvin’ Citizens [INFOGRAPHIC]](http://www.penn-olson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/singapore-infographic-2011-250x250.jpg)
![Web, Smartphones, and Social Media are Thriving in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau [INFOGRAPHIC]](http://www.penn-olson.com/wp-content/themes/penn2/thumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Hong-Kong-Taiwan-Macau-01.jpg&w=250&h=250&zc=1&q=90)
Jan 20 2012
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Attack of the Pinterest Clones, as Qihoo Rolls Out Its Own
Qihoo 360 (NYSE:QIHU), the Chinese anti-virus vendor, has made yet another move into social media with its launch today of a Pinterest clone called ‘I Like.’ Just like the original, the site is for sharing and ‘liking’ random images that people post, which tend to be ones related to fashion, gadgets, and showing off what individuals own. It’s the second such Pinterest-like site from a major Chinese web company just this month, following hot on the heels of Renren’s (NYSE:RENN) new Plaza. But whereas Plaza users seem obsessed with linking to ...
Jan 19 2012
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Rumor Suggests Sina Weibo Phone Being Prepped for 2012 Launch
Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) is prepping a ‘Weibo phone’ that runs a customized version of Android, according to rumors in the Chinese media. Due later this year, the phone reportedly exists only as a fully-formed design so far, and is awaiting approval to be pushed into reality. Plus, Sina has set up a dedicated team of 10 staffers which could increase to hundreds if this mobile venture takes off. It’s not clear which company might be the OEM for the device. The same source suggests that the Sina Weibo phone would be ...
Jan 18 2012
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Tokyo’s Voyage Group Helps You Make Your Face a Mosaic
Tokyo's web service juggernauts Voyage Group (previously known as EC Navi) has announced it has set up a new division exclusively for developing Facebook apps - and today released a new Facebook app called Mosaic Face Me. The app uses your profile image on Facebook, breaks it down into many tiny parts, and re-organizes a new image of you made up of small pieces of your Facebook friends' profile images, as pictured below. It takes around one to three minutes to complete the own mosaic, which can be placed on your ...
Jan 12 2012
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MediaPop App-ifies Facebook Pages With Its Social Marketing Dashboard
Singaporean startup Media Pop has launched a new service that makes it easier for brands, either big or small, to set up a social media campaign on Facebook. Its social marketing dashboard is, the startup says, a useful way for a company to engage users more effectively, with custom apps for offering giveaways and other enticements. The Media Pop service has four main apps that it then injects into the ‘Facebook Page’ of a brand: giveaways, vouchers, and photo and video competitions. And then all of this is managed mostly from ...
Jan 12 2012
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Renren Expands, Adds a Pinterest-like Social Pinboard
Renren (NYSE:RENN), China’s biggest Facebook-like social network, has today launched a social pinboard and sharing website called Renren Plaza. As with the US service Pinterest, it allows users to post up items that they like - typically clothes, gadgets, and random cute things - and then discuss or ‘like’ them. And so Renren Plaza consists mainly of theme-based image boards created by users, such as the ones shown below. There’s also a microblog/weibo element to the site, as it has a system of followers and direct messages that’s separate from one’s ...
Jan 10 2012
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360Fashion App Knows What Chinese Women Want, Coming Soon to iPhone, Android, WP7
American model and entrepreneur Anina loves fashion, tech, mobile - and China. And that’s why the country is the focus of her 360Fashion Social news app. It comes preinstalled on all Nokia N9 (Meego OS powered) phones sold in the country and mixes curated haute couture news with deep Chinese social media integration. Indeed, the app is a sort of third-party Sina Weibo client all by itself, which helps users chat and share designer info and pictures without launching another app. In conversation via email with PO, she says that China ...
Dec 27 2011
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How to See What’s Trending on Sina Weibo Without Speaking Chinese
Sina Weibo is the much-talked about Chinese microblogging platform which now has about 250 million users. But language barriers can make it tricky for many people around the world to get a window onto what’s happening on Sina’s (NASDAQ:SINA) service. And that’s why the University of Hong Kong’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre (JMSC) has cooked-up a useful website that’ll allow anyone to do a visual search for what’s hot right now on Weibo, in pretty much any language. The JMSC folks call it WeiboScope, and it features two kinds of ...
Dec 23 2011
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Singapore’s Social, Smartphone-Luvvin’ Citizens [INFOGRAPHIC]
The Infographic of the Day series visually expresses important stories from Asia and the world of technology. Singapore has always punched above its size in the world’s economy, and so it’s no surprise that its citizens are so wired and engaged with gadgets and social media. Indeed, the island state has the highest concentration of smartphones anywhere in the world, and over three-quarters of its citizens access the web every single day. Singaporeans are social on the web, too, with people there spending about one hour each day engaging with other folks ...
Dec 20 2011
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Web, Smartphones, and Social Media are Thriving in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau [INFOGRAPHIC]
The Infographic of the Day series visually expresses important stories from Asia and the world of technology. Across Asia, countries seem to be split into those who’re well hooked-up to the high-speed web, and those who access instead from mobiles and PC cafés - with only mainland China somewhat torn between those two states of being. But in the Greater China area, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau are certainly in the first group - enjoying high rates of internet penetration on an uncensored web whilst also having over 100 percent phone ownership, ...
Dec 19 2011
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Momo: Yet Another Chinese Find-and-Flirt Mobile App
One of this year’s most prevalent trends among startups in China has been for sexy-looking location-based apps that help you chat - or hook-up - with people nearby. And here’s another, called Momo app, by a Beijing-based startup called Momo Tech. Momo now has a brand-new app for Android, as well as its iPhone version which has been around since August. In that time, the startup claims to have garnered 500,000 users, and will be hoping the Android platform can strengthen that further. The Momo app uses the tagline “Hello stranger” - ...
Dec 15 2011
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Chinese Dating Site Implements Real Name Policy, Kills Your Amusing Nickname
Starting today, the Chinese dating website Baihe.com is requiring new users to register their real name upon signup, which will be verified by also inputting their national ID card number. Gone are the days of getting away with calling yourself ‘MonkeyKing83’ or the more pretentious ‘BMW535owner’ as you attempt to impress the opposite sex. It raises the prospect of privacy concerns and potential ID theft that might be off-putting to some people. But BaiHe - which means ‘Lily’ in English - will have presumably considered that this move might actually be ...
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