Domestic SNS website than Weibo?

Quite a few people have asked me such a question, or have been interviewed one or two times, here I would like to comb, complete expression of the cause of the phenomenon of my views and thinking.

At home, experience tells us that Weibo is far more than SNS fire, even have "happy net group large area moved to Sina microblog" argument. But in foreign countries, Facebook is currently valued at 8 times times as much as Twitter, and the number of users is about 6 times times. According to the domestic imitation of foreign, appeared Weibo than SNS fire, look a little strange, worth pondering one or two.

The first reason is very simple, belongs to the market competition law, is "who is richer". Domestic SNS leaders but everyone, happy, everyone's first quarter of this year's income according to public information show, but 20 million U.S. dollars, and domestic micro-blog, although there is no independent listed companies, but whether it is Sina Tencent, Sohu NetEase, or Baidu and 139 lobbyists, which is not a single quarter income of more than 100 million dollars of the Lord. In particular, Sina, Tencent, Sohu, are emitting words to die on micro-blog projects, in the huge capital force, the application of micro-Bo cover SNS, it is not surprising.

But there are obviously deeper reasons. If this application is not pleasing to the people, no amount of money will be useless. In my opinion, from a cultural perspective, Weibo, more than SNS fit the Chinese people's mind.

Although Weibo is more likely to be a media character, it also has a social network of genes, not to mention the SNS. One of the characteristics of Chinese online social networking is that offline relationships are online. Most people connect with others on social networks, many of whom are acquaintances in the real world. This is particularly evident in college students-there are too many college students with QQ and roommate who sits behind TA chat online-and this means that once the circle of life changes, the original usual SNS will gradually alienated.

Take everyone as an example, its main user groups are college students. These people are frequently used in school, but once they graduate from work and the circle of life changes, they gradually leave everyone behind. Everyone this site is really pathetic, hard to cultivate a lot of users to contact the social network, until these users start to make their own money, but instead of the platform away.

Some commentators say that Weibo is a "look up to the culture", that is, many people are concerned about their own to admit that they need to look up. In Weibo, this kind of gaze-gazing of student groups does not cause them to leave the platform after graduation. It can be said that, compared to Renren, Weibo is closer to the real world.

And as for happy net, is to rely on the game to rise quickly. Once after stealing vegetables and parking spaces that warm strength past, white-collar workers tired of happy, is understandable. Therefore, happiness is not so much a social network as a social game. Game this thing, product research and development once can't keep up, will be subsequent weakness.

But this is not the most important reason. More importantly, in my opinion, Weibo is in line with the Chinese "other culture" of the essence.

According to Sun Lungki in the book "The Deep Structure of Chinese culture", the Chinese People's evaluation of their own is derived from the evaluation of others, the code of conduct also stems from the demands of others. For example, a Chinese people go abroad alone, may abide by some so-called etiquette: do not spit, do not speak loudly. But if a group of Chinese go abroad, because people around them are not too harsh on these behaviors, the nation will become casual. The same person, because the people around them, behavior will be very different.

Microblogging and SNS, the former more can let the Chinese people feel the existence of the other. Most people to their own micro-blog interface is most concerned about the place, not necessarily the pile of other people said, but the upper right corner of the "x new comments, x new fans, x Micro blog mentions me." This small interval attracts a great deal of attention (except for the star exception, a 7 million-fan Yao Chen should pay attention to the three numbers and faint). These three numbers are some kind of evaluation of themselves-not so much Chinese vanity as the Chinese who care more about the views of others around them. From this point on, some users buy zombie powder to show their popularity and cultural background.

And SNS in this respect, relatively weak. Renren did not launch a similar "at person" function until this year's head. On everyone page, I and Zhang discuss doe how, even want to let Doe know all the trouble. Doe oneself also can not find others to TA evaluation (Micro Bo search their own user name can). SNS website walks is the personal omni-directional demonstration path. But almost everyone knows that the Chinese people as a whole are an introverted nation--not that the Chinese dislike leagues, but that the Chinese do not like to leagues through high-profile propaganda.

Therefore, from the cultural roots, SNS does not conform to the deep consciousness of the people, this vein, may from the commercial point of view can survive, but it is difficult to have a big development, unless the Chinese culture in line with the drastic transformation. This is what I mentioned in a previous article, in the age of portals, when people can copy foreign websites, but social networks are almost impossible. (Note: This article refers to SNS, take is the most narrowly defined concept, Social receptacle Sites, that is, class Facebook website. The microblog mentioned is a Chinese microblog, not Twitter. Twitter is a copycat of China's microblogs, but the mechanism is already very different. )