SubscribeChinese Internet is For Virtual Fun
The New York Times has just published an article named “Internet Boom in China Is Built on Virtual Fun“, which is mainly on history and development of Tencent. I agree with the key point of the article, that currently Chinese internet users are mainly for entertainment and fun, foreign internet companies need to understand this culture.
While America’s Internet users send e-mail messages and surf for information on their personal computers, young people in China are playing online games, downloading video and music into their cellphones and MP3 players and entering imaginary worlds where they can swap virtual goods and assume online personas. Tencent earns the bulk of its revenue from the entertainment services it sells through the Internet and mobile phones.
Another distinguishing feature is the youthful face of China’s online community. In the United States, roughly 70 percent of Internet users are over the age of 30; in China, it is the other way around — 70 percent of users here are under 30, according to the investment bank Morgan Stanley.
…And in China, the No. 1 priority for Internet users is entertainment; in the U.S., it’s information. That’s why Google is dominant in the U.S., but Tencent rules China.
…Analysts say the American companies struggle here partly because of regulatory restrictions that favor homegrown companies, but also because foreign companies often do not understand China’s Internet market, which is geared primarily to entertainment and mobile phones.
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Thanks for a great picture of your country’s use of the read/write web.
Howard
[...] We know you are an expert of Second Life. What sort of effect it will bring to social network? What do you see the future of Second Life clones in China, such as Hipihi? Are users of Second Life really producing anything useful or is this merely advanced virtual fun? [...]