NET Newsletter—-2008/6/23

MySpace China CEO Luochuan: Our target audience is "intellectual property netizens"

Comments: I highly agree with two viewpoints presented by Luochuan.

1. Many people say that attracting a large number of users to register is a market issue, and everything else is a product registration and technology problem. In fact, I believe that attracting a large number of users to register is also a product technology issue.

Unfortunately, many people do not realize this. It's true that SNS communities are people-oriented, but in the very initial stage, what retains users is the product itself. Many SNS communities focus on promotion but neglect their products.

2. Based on the unique competitive environment that MySpace China faces today, we have defined our target audience as "knowledge authority netizens," or those who generate knowledge-based content online. We only hope to attract people who truly need to establish their own networked lifestyle and let them become our users. Then, allow them to build their own social relationships on their platform. I believe that the social relationships they establish may ultimately lead to some degree of success.

Ultimately, communities are communities, and community culture exists within them. Community culture must be clear to ensure the sustainable development of the community. We see how powerful FACEBOOK is, allowing users from different cultural backgrounds to gather on one platform. However, you can consider it an SNS platform, but more deeply, FACEBOOK has become an internet operating system. This is the fundamental difference. So don't envy FACEBOOK; everyone takes different paths. Broad user positioning is fundamentally unsuitable for SNS communities. Moreover, even with platforms like FACEBOOK existing, the future internet will not have just one social entry point. Segmentation is an inevitable trend. Only by finding the right position can survival be ensured.

Extended reading: Recommended: The Trap of Trends and Facebook's Missteps

Grow traffic when friends connect on your site

Comment: This is a product called Google Friend Connect. For more information about it, please refer to the following links:

Google Friend Connect: A Social Network for Every Website

Google Launches Friend Connect to Help Websites Add Community Features

Here are some example sites: http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/examples

I am truly impressed by GOOGLE's innovation capabilities and can't help but praise this great company for producing such a great product.

From the user's perspective, Google Friend Connect can significantly enhance the efficiency of online social networking. Distributed social interfaces allow users to participate in social activities at extremely low costs. When I can read news on Sina while chatting with girls from Xiaonei (a Chinese social network), discussing IT topics with professionals on HaiNei, and planning activities with my FACEBOOK friends, it’s simply unimaginable.

However, from the standpoint of community operators, Google Friend Connect could also be a threat. Would the powerful community operators buy into your GOOGLE plan? For communities, if users leave the platform, then the community loses its value. Who would willingly sacrifice their page resources and platform value to let users enjoy community functions through the small tool of Google Friend Connect anytime and anywhere? Ultimately, will users recognize Google Friend Connect or the community platform behind me? Everything is far from simple.