Rebecca MacKinnon has been at the Chinese
Blogger Conference and has come away from it wondering
if “Web2.0 is potentially a very Chinese thing.” She explained:
“One of the most important words in the Chinese language is “guanxi.” It
means “relationship.” Whatever you think about the term “Web2.0”,
the point is that social networking and relationship-building are at the core of
today’s most exciting web innovations. The Chinese happen to be the most natural
and skilled social networkers on earth.”
Censorship is an issue in China of course and Rebecca outlined some practical measures
to work around that, in her
thought-provoking post. And I loved how Rebecca ended her post:
“Another thing about this story: it’s not so much about what the internet is
“bringing” to the Chinese, or how the internet is coming in as an outside
force and “changing China.” The real story is about how Chinese users are
taking the connectivity, tools and applications, internalizing them, and making them
their own.”
Also check out China Web2.0 Review’s post about Intellectual Property Issues in China’s
Web2.0 business, in response to a comment someone left on my blog the
other day.
