E-commerce in China and the United States of America - Assignment Example

E-commerce in China and the United States of America THESIS STATEMENT The purpose of this paper is to answer three questions that are related with e-commerce and more specifically with the aspects of internet access in China and the United States of America (USA), mobile payments and business model of three social media platforms. QUESTION 1 The invention of the internet can be considered as one of the most influential innovations of the last century. At present, almost all individuals are influenced by the internet in one way or the other. The internet has emerged to play an extremely crucial role in the social as well as business life of people. More specifically, the internet in the developed nations such as the United States of America (USA) has been accessed by widespread people while its access in developing countries such as China is gaining rapid momentum. Business organizations are engaged in exploiting the full-fledged advantages offered by the internet. Nonetheless, significant differences are seen in terms of the internet access between China and the USA. These differences can be identified in the context of freedom of speech, censorship and the right to govern within national borders. Responsively, in terms of freedom of speech pertaining to the internet access in China, it is seen to be greatly varied than the USA. Since the introduction of the internet in China in 1994, the government of the country has done little to promote freedom of speech of its people (Wetherbee 112-113). Unlike the USA, China places considerable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. The restrictions on the right of the internet users to freely obtain the information can also be seen to exert significant impact on the right of the publishers on the internet to publish information. Evidently, registration and licensing schemes in China go hand in hand with far-reaching surveillance processes that have a serious influence on the on-line speech and are driven by the political desire to suppress undesirable political speech (Negriff 130-144). The commercialization of the internet in China began in 1995, a year after the introduction of the internet in 1994. Ever since, the government of China has determined to control its content and censor information. China is seen to operate the sophisticated technologies and extensive system of the internet filtering around the globe such as “Great Firewall” or the “Golden Shield.” It blocks and censors myriad information generating within and outside the country (Patrick and Thaler 1-10). At the same time, people in China are imprisoned for sending e-mails, posting blogs or disseminating information considered to be sensitive or viewed to be a threat to national sovereignty. Correspondingly, significant divergence between the policy of the USA and China in terms of access to internet can be seen. The US has supported an idea of cyberspace that is open, secure and global and has executed a nominal degree of anonymity regulations in terms of access to the internet by its citizens (Patrick and Thaler 1-10). The internet access in the US is free from interference or censorship. Similar to China, management of the internet in North Korea can be seen to be widely varying from that of the USA. Unlike the USA, only few people with high post in North Korea are eligible to access the internet. Moreover, the North Korean censorship program is extremely rigid where the government firmly restricts ordinary people to have internet connection. Internet traffic is closely monitored and censorious sites are blocked for excluding ordinary people from receiving sensitive information (Kodabagi and Kameri 1-5). QUESTION 2 Mobile phones have transmuted telephony to a great extent. Mobile phones are currently equipped with numerous functionalities which exceed telephony needs and stimulate the growth of value-added mobile services. More specifically, the transition of mobile phones as mobile commerce and access devices as a whole is evident in the present day purview. Currently, mobile phones are used for various purposes such as marketing of products and services as well as other numerous purposes. In the recent times, mobile as a payment system is widely accepted across the globe. Mobile payments generally refer to payments made for goods and services as well as bills through the use of mobile devices like mobile phones and smart phones. Mobile payments are generally associated with reaping the benefits of wireless and other communication technologies. Mobile devices are used for making an assortment of payments that includes payment for digital contents, transport fares and tickets, bills and invoices. A mobile payment is executed with a mobile payment instrument such as a mobile wallet or mobile credit card. It is projected that mobile payments will become an important means of payment in the future. In this regard, changing socio-cultural environment as well as changing commercial environment is considered to lay a significant impact on the mobile payment services in the future. It is believed that social cultural environments tend to affect the consumption habits and buying behaviors of people to a substantial extent. Correspondingly, significant transition can be seen in terms of technological advancement and their use by the people. Responsively, such transition in technologies and changing socio-cultural environment together is perceived to lead towards the widespread acceptance of mobile payments in the future over other modes of payments. Notably, factors such as increased mobility of people as well as greater acknowledgement for leisure time is expected to favorably influence the development and success of mobile payments in the future. Besides, changes in the commercial environment including rapid development of internet as well as mobile networks followed by increasing automation and self-service preference of the payment services are closely related with the unprecedented acceptance and growth of mobile payments in the future. Consecutively, the other aspects such as development of financial, telecommunication as well as information communication technology (ICT) infrastructures and markets are also considered to contribute towards the development and success of mobile payments in the future years. Moreover, complexities associated with the traditional payment instruments are anticipated to have a positive influence over the mobile payments in the future years. It has been observed that customers in the present scenario are more inclined towards using technology oriented devices such as new electronic payment services in the form of e-invoices, internet banking and e-direct debit/credit for bill and invoice payments over the for that traditional account-based payment instruments which can be seen to create a platform for increasing the acceptance for mobile payments in the future. One of the potential edges for the anticipated widespread use of the internet in future over other electronic payment is widely recognized to be associated with the aspect of portability related to mobile devices (Dahlberg, Mallat, Ondrus and Zmijewska 1-17). QUESTION 3 There are a number of social media platforms currently operating across the globe. The three most prominent social media platforms include Facebook that was introduced in 2004, Twitter in 2006 and YouTube in 2005. These social media platforms have millions of users spread throughout the globe. At the point of start, these social media platforms were not driven with the commercial ambitions. Gradually, it can be seen that these social media platforms are shifting towards becoming more commercial oriented. The business models pertaining to three prominent social media platforms that involve Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are being discussed. For the purpose of acquiring an understanding regarding the aforementioned three social media platforms, four design elements that include service design, organization design, technology design and financial design are taken into consideration. Facebook platform runs on standard-based web service with algorithm for accessing to Facebook data. Facebook service is concentrated on seeking online communities that facilitates people to establish connection and communicate with relatives and friends. The core service of offered by Facebook is totally free but is ad supported. It provides users with an assortment of ways to interact including instant messaging services and e-mail. Facebook can be access through both PC as well as with the use of mobile devices and its users include both private users and advertisement companies. Facebook generally generates its revenue through advertisements. Facebook provides a social network for all PC internets and in the recent years it has extended to provide its services to mobile users as well. It is projected that the extension of its services to mobile devices as well as adaption of mobile over PC will deliver more sustainable outcome for it (Falch, Henten, Tadayoni and Windekilde 1-23). Twitter offers a common platform wherein users are allowed to send and receive messages by the use of numerous delivery channels. It is accessed through an Application Programming Interface (API). The core services offered by Twitter are quite different from Facebook. Users of Twitter are allowed to design their own homepage delineating their profile. Users are also embraced with the facility to read and post messages over Twitter. Twitter can be accessed with the help of PC but is purposefully created to access through mobile devices. Twitter produces revenue primarily from sending and receiving tweets on SMS. It is anticipated that rapid adaption to mobile will benefit Twitter to acquire large user base and increase its revenue earning prospects (Falch, Henten, Tadayoni and Windekilde 1-23). YouTube is based on Adobe Flash Player and runs Sorenson Spark H.263 video codec. YouTube operates on client server model. YouTube service is different from other video services as well as the conventional Video-on-demand-service system. The revenue model of this social media platform is particularly based on advertisements. The business model adopted by YouTuble is simplistic which can be related increase its sustainability in future. YouTube is also accessed through mobile devices because of which it can be projected that in the future years YouTube will have more users (Falch, Henten, Tadayoni and Windekilde 1-23). Works Cited Dahlberg, Tomi, Niina Mallat, Jan Ondrus and Agnieszka Zmijewska. “Past, Present and Future of Mobile Payments Research: A literature review”. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications (2008): 1-17. Print. Falch, Morten, Anders Henten, Reza Tadayoni and Iwona Windekilde. “Business Models in Social Networking.” Aalborg University Copenhagen (2009): 1-23. Print. Kodabagi, Mahantesh M and Geeta R Kameri. Internet Censorship in India and Globe: A Survey. International Conference on Cloud, Big Data and Trust (2013): 1-5. Print. Negriff Liza. “The Past, Present, and Future of Freedom of Speech and Expression in the People’s Republic of China”. Topical Research Digest: Human Rights In China (n.d.): 130-144. Print Patrick, Stewart M and Farah Faisal Thaler. “China, the United States, and Global Governance: Shifting Foundations of World Order”. Council on Foreign Regions (2010): 1-10. Print. Wetherbee, Rebecca J. “Censorship and Evolving Media Policy in China”. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications 1.1 (2010). 112-113. Print. Read More