The comparison between Renren and Facebook - Literature review Example

?The comparison between Renren and Facebook Contents Government Limitations 3 Revenue Sources for Social Media Networks 4 Introduction to Facebook and Renren 4 Renren Marketing Aspects 5 Comparison between Facebook and Renren 6 Interface Differences 8 Reference List 9 Government Limitations One of the reasons why Facebook cannot get into Chinese market is the government limitation. It is difficult to control words or acts. Of course, in a state controlled system like that of China, approval for speaking out may be more severe than in liberal democratic contexts where criticism of the government is widely tolerated (Bandurski, 2009). The government of China has been long trying to keep tight control over traditional as well as new social media platforms so that the political authorities are not challenged in any way (Boyd and Ellison, 2008). The government uses strict monitoring systems, jailing of bloggers, journalists or social activists and shutting down of websites and publications (Gorman, 2005). There has been a growing dissatisfaction among the young and emerging social groups in China. Most of these groups want higher flexibility in search sites and liberal policies for publications and online social media sites. This has led to anti social activities such as people getting involved in media censorship in China and that has in turn created pressure on the government. The Chinese have been demanding information and this is a testing phase for the age-old control of Chinese authorities over media (Hansen, 2010). Media censorship has been playing an influential role in the political evolution in Chinese governance. However, with the rise in globalization and China becoming an integral part of the global economy, the political as well as the policy making authorities are trying to balance their goal of maintaining power by controlling content and satisfying the need for more information (Kiesler et al., 2002). The government fears that the consistent need for freedom and information might have to force them to open gates which the policies were trying to lock for so long (Zizi and Alan, 2000). Another concern is that while providing more information to the people the government might lose control over that crucial information which has been holding the overall government’s control and avoiding downfall of the regime (Bennett, 2013). Even though Chinese government allows sharing of information and media access, the government has been keen on maintaining strict laws and rules. The major concern comes in guarding the secrets of the state. The Chinese government has recently announced modifications in its state secret law policies in order to gain tight control over information flow. No doubt, social media sites like Google, Facebook, Tumbler and Twitter have been banned as a result of mass flow of information and ideas (O'Rourke IV, Harris and Ogilvy, 2007). Many critics have argued that the definition of these vague secret laws is itself contradictory. Thus, the rules of punishment and illegal obligations are sometimes despised. Revenue Sources for Social Media Networks In general there are two major sources of income for the company. It includes: IVAS (Value Added Services from Internet):- The source of revenue of IVAS is mainly from online applications and games. Most of the revenues are gathered from the online purchase of games, applications and other virtual items. Other revenues are earned from the application developers and merchants who offer their services and products in different websites. Furthermore, exclusive and VIP membership are few other areas from where the online firm earns substantial amount of money. Online Advertising: - Online advertisements are also another segment from which the company earns a substantial amount of revenue. This is achieved by a number of different advertisements. The advertisements are positioned ain suitable place at the front page or the interface. The advertisements are mainly charged according to the time and place where they are positioned in the online social networking site (Baek and Yu, 2009). Again, due to rapid increase of online advertising platforms and social networking sites, the company does not exactly reveal the prices that are charged for advertisements (De Mooij, 2005). Introduction to Facebook and Renren Facebook was launched in the year 2004 and since its establishment, it has become one of the favourite and most popular social networking sites across the globe (Facebook, 2013a). According to Facebook’s annual reports, the site has been able to garner around 500 million registered users and has established itself in more than 70 translations across the globe (Facebook, 2013b). Users can find people, add new friends and create profiles, exchange messages, post on the Facebook wall of their friends and perform a host of other activities. The users can also join various organized networks created by administrators in workplace, schools, colleges, universities and many more. The online network of the users can be maintained by updating profiles, sharing photos and pictures and sharing notifications about their updates. It has been recognized for its tremendous communication potential and the ability to build online communities. Many experts have suggested that Facebook is soon going to become the biggest future for customer networking (Poynter, 2008). As a result of the overwhelming popularity of sites such as twitter and Facebook, many social networking sites have been established in China. The fight for a significant presence in China’s digital landscape can be attributed to the emerging economy, rises in population dominated by younger generation and increasing need for socializing and communication with the entire world (Cheong, Kim and Zheng, 2010). China has also been emerged as one of the largest population of internet users (Chen and Haley, 2010). According to information of China’s network system, around 210 million or more than half of China’s internet users are well educated, wealthy and relatively young making these social networking sites an unavoidable treasure for the marketers (Darragh, 2009). Renren is among the top social networking sites in China. Most of the users of Renren are based on tier-2 and tier-1 cities and comprises of college students as well as white collar professionals. These students and professionals are registered and regular users. Similar to Facebook Renren is also used for building communities and exchanging information, views, ideas etc. Renren is one of the leading social networking sites in China. With similar layout, interface and logo, Renren started as a Facebook clone, launching in 2005 (Renren, 2013a). According to the latest reports, registered Renren users have already reached a 120 million mark. The website has positioned itself as an efficient and real social platform with the aim of helping people find their old friends and connect with the new ones. Oak Pacific Interactive is the current owner of Renren.com. During its initial campaigning, the social website targeted college students. As the popularity grew over the target segments, the social website was renamed as Renren.com, meaning everybody. The website is said to be a copy of Facebook because of its vast similarities in its interface, features, applications etc. In the next section, a thorough comparison between Renren and Facebook has been done. Renren Marketing Aspects The marketing aspect of social media is highly dependent upon e-commerce. In social networking sites, advertisements of various companies are present, but if notice properly, most of the advertisements are from online retailers (Utz, 2009; Palvian and Pancaro, 2010). The online retailers use the technology of e-commerce in social media like Renren and Facebook to promote and sell their products directly to the end customers (Singh, 2009). The social media networking site has been successful in establishing benefits which have attracted a host of marketers. According to studies, Renren stands in the fourth place in terms of popular social media platform. Therefore, it is clear that if marketers develop sound social media strategies it will be possible to attract huge traffic through the official website of the organization (Zhang and Shavitt, 2003). With this effective use of Renren, organizations will be able to target their customer base with accuracy. Similar strategies have been applied in Facebook where many related advertisements can be found in the Facebook pages (Zhang, 2010). It is achieved by effectively using the various elements and tools offered on the social platform and enabling enhanced visibility of the contents of the organisation (An, 2007). Apart from that, Renren has a huge reach, and almost any organisation in China will be able to increase its visibility as well as promotion of its services and products at a national level. The national reach of an organisation enhances the value of the brand as well as company (Boyd, 2004). Since there are millions of people visiting Renren every day, the chances of successful promotion increase. Thus, with new content and regular updates, the visibility of a company reaches new heights. Comparison between Facebook and Renren Renren has been dubbed as Facebook clone in China. However, the company has acclaimed huge success in China. Renren as a social networking site has been able to create a buzz since it was launched in 2005. Apart from that, social networking website has been able to accumulate 160 million registered users by the end of 2011 (Renren, 2013b). However, there are some large differences between Facebook and Renren. Some of the major differences are highlighted below. Social programs can be feed based or friend based. The latter is entirely influenced by friend circles and happenings around user’s friends. Both the websites belong to the category of social networks. Nonetheless, the concept of social varies in both websites. For example, Renren is slightly more oriented towards friends circle. On the contrary, Facebook mainly focuses on the happenings within the social circle which in turn is mainly events. Thus, it is clear that Renren is ‘friends oriented’ whereas Facebook is ‘events oriented’. From a broader aspect, Facebook promotes ‘what is happening around’, while Renren promotes ‘who are the users or friends’. There are large differences that are based on the Interface and applications of Renren and Facebook. However, some of the major technical differences between Renren and Facebook are as follows: Top news versus special friend’s status – In Facebook users are able to differentiate the social circle while creating friend groups. However, users are provided with another special function in Renren. In this special application the users are allowed to choose three to four friends as their special friends. In case of Facebook, no particular friend filter is provided. Friend recommendations – another important feature of Renren is friend recommendations. The status bar of friend recommendations always remains active in Renren which in case of Facebook remains active in a few occasions only. Events and birthday reminder – In case of birthday reminders and event reminders both the social networks are extremely aware. However for Facebook, events are more important than birthdays. Recent visits – From the inception of Renren they have been offering the registered users the facility of viewing recent visitors into their profile. However, Facebook has not yet offered any application that allows users to view the recent visitors. This facility has not been uploaded in Facebook due to privacy concerns. Note Function- Renren offers the note function where they have limited words to share their views and opinions, while Facebook offers its users the status function. In Facebook a user is able to update his or her status at any time and in any number of words. In case of Facebook, there are no limitations for words. Visit award – Renren offers badges and promotes the profile to the next level for frequent visiting the profile, while the same is absent in Facebook. Moreover, there are doubts on whether a Facebook user would like to decorate their profile page or not. Buy gifts for your friends – In Facebook users do not have the option to actually gift anything to the friend, apart from the virtual gifts. However, Renren offers the option of actually buying and presenting a gift to the friends, from the online stores, such as amazon.com or eBay.com. Games and related applications- Games and related applications are the strongest point for Renren. The Website has an open platform for games which is very popular. The aim of these games and related applications are to bridge the gap between virtual and real world and provide an advanced experience to the users. The major competition with Facebook lies in the fact that most of the games in Renren are highly advanced and technical, unlike in Facebook. Interface Differences Facebook and Renren have similar interfaces and features. However, there are few added features in Renren which make it more popular in China. For example, the users can change that skin on their interface. This means that unlike Facebook background, the Renren background can be changed. Apart from this, Renren also provides a special feature in which the user can see the visitors of their profile. With this application the user is able to check out the profiles of 10 recent visitors. If an individual wants to add any external applications to the profile, he/she needs to pay some extra money. Even for writing the profile name using some specific colours or for adding animation to the profile name, the users have to pay some money to the company. Again, Facebook does not charge anything for the purpose of adding any applications in the profile page. Nevertheless, Facebook offers points for which fully working applications can be unlocked. Renren is mostly used by the teenagers or, more specifically, by the university students. On the other hand, Facebook does not have any specific segment. It is being used by almost every age group. In addition, the biggest advantage of Facebook is that it offers its interface in a number of languages and thus it holds the chance of catering to large number of customers. Reference List An, D., 2007. Advertising visuals in global brands’ local websites: A six-country comparison. International Journal of Advertising, 26(3), pp. 303-32. Baek, T.H. and Yu, H., 2009. 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