According to new statistics from SocialBakers.com, the hierarchy of the world’s top Facebook nations has just experienced a shift near the top. While the US remains by far the top Facebook nation with 152 million users, India has just surpassed Indonesia for the number two position. India now has about 43.5 million users, while Indonesia has about 43.1 million (see chart below). Of course if we look at Facebook’s penetration rate in the top nations, we can still see that the popular social network is still just scratching the surface ...
Tag Archives: Social Networking
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Dec 9 2011
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5 Ways Twitter’s New Redesign Makes It More Like Sina Weibo
Twitter’s slick new redesign has brought it - visually and practically - closer to China’s most dynamic microblogging platform, Sina’s (NASDAQ:SINA) Weibo. It shows, perhaps, that Sina’s rapid rate of change on its most popular service is now actually leading the way for Twitter. How the tables have turned! More seriously, though, the two companies have a very different philosophy, so we won’t engage in the kind of “copycat” name-calling that we usually discourage. Whereas Twitter has been evolving very slowly, and espouses “simplicity,” Sina has been throwing major new features ...
Dec 8 2011
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Better Late Than Never, Kaixin Gets Its Own Stylish Photo-Sharing App
Oh, great… another photo-sharing app with lots of filters. We haven’t reviewed one of those for, like, 24 hours. Yes, Kaixin001, China’s second-largest Facebook-like social network, now has its own app for snapping and sharing grungy photos of the cappuccino you’re about to drink. Called TuTeng, it’s out now for Android, with an iPhone version already in the works. Kaixin’s TuTeng arrives very late to the funky party that was first started by Instagram (which is now weighing up a move into China). But unlike most of the other photo-sharing apps ...
Nov 14 2011
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CheWen, Renren’s Social Network for Car Fanatics, Revs Up to 4 Million Users
CheWen.com is the Renren Inc. (NYSE:RENN) owned, car-oriented social network that’s a mix of Quora, microblogging, and automotive news. And it’s doing pretty well - the GM of CheWen, Xiu Yu, has told the media that the site has now revved up to four million users, a mere six months after its launch. The social network for car fanatics is separate from Renren.com, but makes use of the latter’s third-party login. It doesn’t integrate with its rivals, Sina (NASDAQ:SINA) or Tencent (HKG:0700) Weibo, but it does allow sharing of pages with ...
Oct 17 2011
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McKinsey: Japan ‘Downright Slow’ Adopting New Technologies
Research firm McKinsey published an interesting report recently summarizing a survey that showed the digital habits of 5000 people across eight countries. The findings suggest that the perception of Japanese consumers as ones who are in love with the latests gadgets may not be an accurate one. When asked about tablet computers, MicKinsey says that only four percent of consumers surveyed had one already, far lower than the nine percent of respondents from neighboring Korea. How many intend to buy a tablet soon? Only 3 percent of Japanese surveyed say ...
Oct 12 2011
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Alphatown, China’s Hippest Virtual City and Social Game
Alphatown is a social network and virtual community created in real-time by its users. It was developed by Douban - now China’s fifth largest SNS - and launched on September 1. It’s now in public beta, and represents an innovative attempt to go both beyond conventional social networks, and to monetize Douban with its own virtual currency. When you login to Alphatown, the interface works like an online map, just like Google’s or Baidu’s. But Alphatown is not a real place. You can use the W-A-S-D or arrow keys to move ...
Oct 12 2011
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“Are You Human or Devil?” Teases China’s Weirdest Social Network
“Are you a human or a devil? Let people know your other side.” That’s the suggestive tagline of a brand-new, somewhat twisted, Chinese social network called Renmo (which means human-devil in direct translation). It will launch on October 20. Renmo wants users to be deliberately two-faced, and possibly evil, by providing them with two different IDs and social zones at the same time. In this way, Renmo wants to overturn the traditional pattern of SNS such as Renren (NYSE:RENN) and Weibo, which enforce real-name IDs and non-disruptive conduct. Although the web ...
Aug 31 2011
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Japan’s Mixi Takes a Page From Facebook
Japanese social networking site Mixi followed the lead of Facebook today by launching public pages for companies and individuals. ‘Public’ is an important word here, since Mixi usually requires a login to view content, so these new pages will be accessible by anyone, and by search engines too. The new pages are said to bridge the public space on the net with Mixi users’ private social graph. And companies will will be sure to try to capitalize on the new feature. Disney is one company already on the bandwagon. A ...
Aug 26 2011
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Zazzer Mixes Social, Group Messaging, and LBS – But Will It Blend?
A Chinese start-up is going very ‘elastic’ by mixing location (LBS), social, and IM/group messaging into its Zazzer service, which has beta Android and iPhone apps. The service’s Chinese name is a lot more descriptive: ZaiZher IM, which basically translates to Here IM. The firm behind this is Bejing-based Rooster Tech. It combines checking in to venues with a much greater element of meeting new people than most LBSs - more easily allowing users to chat online with people in your area. In this way, Zazzer is a lot like traditional IM ...
Aug 3 2011
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As Social Network Kaixin Loses 65% of Traffic, How Did it Lose its Groove?
The web traffic stats site Alexa reveals that China’s former top social networking site Kaixin001.com has lost 65 percent of its traffic in the past 12 months (see the graph above). In another blow to Kaixin, a gauge of Chinese netizens interest in the site measured by Baidu Index, has hit the rocks. Today’s ‘user interest level’ for the Kaixin site is rated at 1,500 (see the graph below), which is its lowest ebb since March 2009, before the social network really took off. The Alexa and Baidu Index measures point to ...
Jun 23 2011
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Sina Weibo Teases a Beta Update, With Photo and Music Albums
Today Sina is giving a glimpse into an update to Weibo, its smash-hit microblogging platform. It's not just a cosmetic facelift, however - the teaser image (above) indicates photo and music albums, stocks/shares, and a 'more' tab to suggest further new features. With photo and music albums, it looks like Sina Weibo is expanding to be a fuller social-network, not just a launchpad for 140-character missives. Earlier this week I reviewed the closed-beta Sina Qing, which is a Tumblr-style blog that's very tightly integrated with Sina Weibo, allowing cross-posting and further interactions ...
Jun 21 2011
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RenRen.com, in First Results Since IPO, Shows a Net Loss in 2011 Q1
Renren.com, China's biggest Facebook-style social network, has released its 2011 Q1 financial results. Being the first such results since their May IPO, a lot of investors in Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) will be looking for glimmers of hope in their declining stock - see the stocks gadget, below - beyond the glaring net loss of US$2.6 million. What are those rays of sunshine? Well, those net losses were down 78.5% from last year, before their IPO, whilst net revenues were up 46.6% to US$20.6 million, and online advertising revenues were up ...
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