In December, Mark Zuckerberg, the twenty-six year old founder of Facebook, took an unexpected vacation to China. This is very interesting because China recently banned Facebook on the Country’s web. When investigators began to ask questions as to Zuckerberg’s intentions in China, no one has answers. The most obvious answer is that Mark Zuckerberg is hoping to work with the Chinese government to work out a deal that will open Facebook to the public.
As of June, China had over four-hundred and twenty million Internet users. This number is greater than any other nation in the world. The number of users on Chinese social-networking sites is around one-hundred and seventy-six million people. Obviously this would be an outstanding opportunity for Facebook to access an unprecedented number of new users and expand advertisement exposure. China is the new frontier for profit. Unfortunately, this frontier is halted by a massive, government instated ‘block’ sign.
When asked if ‘business talk’ is part of Zuckerberg’s trip, the answer is non-committal. The trip was announced as a vacation with his girlfriend. Zuckerman claims to work on his Chinese language skills for an hour a day. Either the man is passionate about learning another language, or he is accessing the tools he will need to breach this governmental block.
Zuckerberg was observed walking into the headquarters of Sina Corporation, a leading Web portal in China. While there, he met with the CEO, Charles Chao. He was also observed visiting China Mobile Limited’s chairman, Wang Jianzhou, and Baidu Incorporated’s CEO, Robin Li, CEO. Considering the positions of power these men hold within the realm of Chinese Internet, it is foolish to believe arrangements are not being discussed. Facebook has made concessions before. In Germany, Nazi content is censored from Facebook. Arrangements and compromises can be made. And, considering the massive number of potential users waiting to be accessed, Facebook would be foolish not to make such arrangements and compromises.
Zuckerberg is not going to be able to accomplish anything while on this vacation. He knows this fact, and that is why he is calling it a vacation. To call it anything else would be to allow defeat upon his return home. But the willingness of the Chinese government and Internet CEO’s to meet with Zuckerberg displays much hope for the future of Facebook in China. It will be interesting to follow this story and see what will happen.
I agree! All I could think about while I was reading this is that he could modify Facebook to fit the culture. I am not that familiar with the exact culture and government of China, but I do know that they are somewhat strict. He would definitely be able to turn a profit if he can convince them to accept his offer.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I have no doubt that Zuckerberg will make some sort of accommodation with the powers-that-be in China. That question is, should he?
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