Supples’ Pub

I’ve been trying to kick my nasty habit of just populating my blog with links to other stuff, but I found this post too insightful not to share.

The famous Shel Israel’s blog Global Neighbourhoods is one that is usually neglected in my Google Reader, but the headline about SM and someone in China caught my eye. China is a big strategic opportunity for SM and given Lenovo’s huge presence there - well, you can understand my interest. I’m also slowly (and I do mean slowly) learning Chinese (it’s really more like intending to learn Chinese), but the language is only half the battle, if that. Culture is eminently important in social media, or really any direct interaction between people.

SM Global Report: China’s Kaiser Kuo - Straddling 2 Worlds with Balance & Understanding

I strongly encourage you to read the entire interview, as unlike some other pandering content this one is chock full of good information. That said, this nugget stood out to me:

My purely unscientific, anecdotal surmise as to the main subjects of conversation in China: Basically, your pedestrian comings-and-goings blogs: "my kitty got sick and I had to take her to the vet," or "I’m so depressed that my girlfriend dumped me," entertainment (boy bands, Korean soaps, Jay Chou and other pop stars or the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Cars are a big topic–it’s like the 50s in the U.S., where young people are car-crazy and of course there’s technology, online games and that sort of thing. There is a surprising number devoted to literature. Political blogs are rare.

Kaiser also talks about how discussion forums (or BBS as he calls them) are far more prevalent than blogs - to the tune of 1/3 of internet users post to a BBS regularly, with tens of millions of posts going up each day. Just serves to remind you how small our world really is.