Mark Zuckerberg once said that Facebook can never connect the world without including China’s 1.3 billion people. And we all assume Facebook has some plans up its sleeve for the China market. But no one knows for sure what Facebook has in mind, so at today’s F8 Singapore press meeting, I decided to ask: With all the rumors about Facebook and Baidu, what is Facebook’s plan for China?
And as expected, it’s a no-comment answer. “We don’t comment on rumors,” said Ethan Beard, the director of platform partnerships at Facebook. He wouldn’t comment, but Beard did say that connecting the entire world on Facebook is indeed a vision.
Facebook has an office in Hong Kong which I thought could be Facebook’s spring board for its expansion in China. But the team was quick to dismiss that idea. Kumiko Hidaka, a PR rep from Facebook says that its Hong Kong office is purely a sales office that only serves the Hong Kong and Taiwan market. But who knows what will happen in the future?
As I last wrote, I do think that Facebook has what it takes to be successful in China. I’ve also said that it has to enter China quickly before Renren, its Chinese equivalent, gets all the market share. Looks like I was wrong there; now it’s Sina and Tencent Weibo that are keeping Chinese social users busy on the web. But there is still a role to play for Renren as a more traditional, friend-based social network, even if people are spending less time with it because of microblogs.
What about Facebook? Would the Chinese find a reason to use Facebook at all?
Well, besides all the product localization things that needed to be done, perhaps global pressure might be the answer to cracking the market. Instead of marching hastily into China, Facebook could be aiming to connect the rest of the world first. And perhaps, by then, it won’t be about Facebook wanting to go into China. Chinese would feel compelled to be on Facebook and be part of the majority, the world’s social network. The cynics might say that the Chinese don’t give a damn about being part of the world. China is the world, to a very large extent!
It’s all fantasy guesswork, but hey, it’s always fun to think about the problem, isn’t it?
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