social networking sites | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

aims to alert you to the threats and opportunities that China and India present. China and India require serious attention; case of ‘hidden dragon and crouching tiger’.

Without this attention, governments, businesses and, indeed, individuals may find themselves at a great disadvantage sooner rather than later.

The POSTs (front webpages) are mainly 'cuttings' from reliable sources, updated continuously.

The PAGEs (see Tabs, above) attempt to make the information more meaningful by putting some structure to the information we have researched and assembled since 2006.

* India outraged: voices rise in crescendo against ‘Facebook arrests’

Technoholik: “Oppressive, deplorable, arbitrary… the adjectives flew freely Tuesday as Indians across all sectors verbalised their outrage at the arrest of two young women who questioned on Facebook the shutdown in Mumbai after Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray‘s death.

A day after 21-year-old Shaheen Dabha was arrested with her friend, who had ‘liked’ the post on Facebook, and her uncle’s clinic in Thane was vandalised, police arrested nine people believed to be from the Shiv Sena. Both the women were arrested Sunday – for “hurting religious sentiments” and under the Information Technology Act, 2000 – and released on bail Monday. Police also launched an inquiry against the arrests and the vandalism in Thane, near India’s financial and entertainment hub Mumbai.

But that did little to curb the democracy vs dictatorship debate and the mounting fury over police high-handedness. The topic was hotly discussed in college and school classrooms, in offices, on social networking sites and was also the top trending topic on Twitter. From corporates and students to politicians and academics, the voices of protest, young and old, rose in unison. “I am so scared to write on facebook… My freedom of expression is killed by the arrest of two young ladies in Mumbai,” wrote Guwahati-based wildlife activist Firoz Ahmed on his Facebook wall.

“Police officers who arrested the two girls in Mumbai shud be immediately dismissed. That’s minimum that the govt ought to do,” tweeted activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal. “Now you can’t ask questions about why there should be a bandh? Did anyone notify the police that this is actually a democracy?” Mumbai-based author Jerry Pinto wrote angrily on his Facebook wall. In Mumbai-based communications professional Kumar Manish’s view, the arrests were an “oppressive way of muzzling voices”. “It is unfortunate and deplorable that Maharashtra Police, a state functionary, acts and reacts within couple of hours for an action which is within the laws enshrined in the Constitution of India… We are living in a democracy, let us not make it ‘demo-crazy’,” he added.”

via India outraged: voices rise in crescendo against ‘Facebook arrests’ | Technoholik.com.

Posted in Censorship, Citizens's rights, Human rights, India alert, Rule of law | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bal Thackeray, Facebook, India, information technology act, Maharashtra Police, mumbai, occupy-wall-street, politics, religious sentiments, shiv sena, shiv sena chief, social networking sites, The Information Technology Act 2000

26/04/2012

* Understanding social media in China

McKinsey Quarterly: “The world’s largest social-media market is vastly different from its counterpart in the West. Yet the ingredients of a winning strategy are familiar.

No Facebook. No Twitter. No YouTube. Listing the companies that don’t have access to China’s exploding social-media space underscores just how different it is from those of many Western markets. Understanding that space is vitally important for anyone trying to engage Chinese consumers: social media is a larger phenomenon in the world’s second-biggest economy than it is in other countries, including the United States. And it’s not indecipherable. Chinese consumers follow the same decision-making journey as their peers in other countries, and the basic rules for engaging with them effectively are reassuringly familiar.

In addition to having the world’s biggest Internet user base—513 million people, more than double the 245 million users in the United States. China also has the world’s most active environment for social media. More than 300 million people use it, from blogs to social-networking sites to microblogs and other online communities. That’s roughly equivalent to the combined population of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In addition, China’s online users spend more than 40 percent of their time online on social media, a figure that continues to rise rapidly.

This appetite for all things social has spawned a dizzying array of companies, many with tools more advanced than those in the West: for example, Chinese users were able to embed multimedia content in social media more than 18 months before Twitter users could do so in the United States. Social media began in China in 1994 with online forums and communities and migrated to instant messaging in 1999. User review sites such as Dianping emerged around 2003. Blogging took off in 2004, followed a year later by social-networking sites with chatting capabilities such as Renren. Sina Weibo launched in 2009, offering microblogging with multimedia. Location-based player Jiepang appeared in 2010, offering services similar to foursquare’s. This explosive growth shows few signs of abating, a trend that’s at least partially attributable to the fact that it’s harder for the government to censor social media than other information channels. That’s one critical way the Chinese market is unique.

As you shape your own social-media strategy, it’s important to fully understand some other nuances of the country’s consumers, content, and platforms.”

via Understanding social media in China – McKinsey Quarterly – Marketing & Sales – Digital Marketing.

The Biggest Challenge for Marketers: Engagement (mpdailyfix.com)
Social Media is Driving First Time Visitors to Restaurants (coverboom.com)

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Digital communications, Social & cultural, social media, Technology | 6 Comments »

Tags: China, Digital marketing, marketing, mckinsey quarterly, Sina Weibo, Social media, social networking sites, technology, Twitter, YouTube

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Posts tagged ‘social networking sites’

* India outraged: voices rise in crescendo against ‘Facebook arrests’

* Understanding social media in China

Related articles

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats