- Posts tagged China
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Google's Waver on Net Neutrality, Talent Management at Boeing, & Journalism Education 2.0: Six Great Reads from This Morning's RSS Feeds
One nice things about getting up early is that I have quiet time to enjoy my (old school) newspaper and some great RSS feeds. Once the little monsters are up and moving, that becomes much more difficult. So in the spirit of sharing, here are six really nice reads I came across this morning. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.
- Good Will Shunting: Google's Distressing Turn on Net Neutrality. Dave Weinberger at Harvard has a nice post sharing his disappointment with Google's attempts to redefine Net Neutrality in a way that, perhaps, favors some of their recent business initiatives. We don't know exactly why Google would make such a evil move after all the China grandstanding, but for additional thoughts you might also read this article from All Things Digital.
- Microblogs are Crucial in China. China Media Project Fellow Hu Yong has a great post on the evolving role and importance of microblogs in China.
- Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Retools Talent Management. Now this was a very interesting post discussing how the incredibly complex supply chain supporting the production of the 787 has reshaped talent management, expertise, and knowledge sharing at the airline manufacturer.
- Journalism education 2.0: Training in the Age of Radical Change. Mediashift discusses what is essential for leading journalism education by summarizing thoughts from the World Journalism Education Congress.
- Understanding and Etiquette of Non-Muslims During Ramadan. Good advice that should be of value of this American boy from Midwest farm country.
- Tips for Creative Success from Pixar. This post extends far beyond mere creativity and shares great advice for working collaboratively--and successfully--in both the modern age and creative industries. I think many of the ideas here could be carried over to business settings.
Top China Internet Properties by Unique Visitors in May 2010 | China Internet Watch (reblog)
You can read the China Internet Watch report at http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/714/top-china-internet-properties-by-unique...
Backing Down or Continued Negotiations? Reputational Risk and Google's Latest China Announcement
Did CNN Step In It Again? Thai Discontent Over Biased Media Coverage and How Offline Events Drive Social Movement Online
Over the past few weeks, I have followed a series of articles and blog posts describing discontent in Thailand over CNN's and BBC's media coverage of the protests and unrest. The complaints about biased coverage seem highly similar to the complaints in China. As we have seen in so many cases, discontent in the real world--combind with emotion--drives people online to communicate and act.
To help balance out my own oversimplification (for an earlier Al Jazeera report on Thai events, go here), here is a nice report from Al Jazeera English television discussing the events in Thailand and the rise of social media (here is the link if YouTube does not load properly).
Discontent appears to have been driven online where people are free to create protest/support sites and garner support. Here are a few examples: Facebook pages protesting CNN's coverage and reporter Dan Rivers, On-line petitions for CNN to seek more balanced coverage, and a Facebook page supporting Dan Rivers.
Third, we have emotion. Emotions are judgments, and in all the cases I have metioned thus far the judgment is negative. The emotions are strong and compelling. These emotions spread like wildfire through a social network. For more on emotions in large social networks, refer to this 20-year longitudinal study in the British Journal of Medicine (BMJ) examining at how the emotion of happiness spreads through large social networks.
Together--real world events, online opportunity (democratized media) to communicate, and emotions spreading through social networks--creates powerful situation out of which these online protests can grow, gather support, and put pressure on the object of their frustration.
I don't think this story is over...far from it. Apparaently the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has allegedly been instigating the Red Shirt protests from exile in Cambodia, and now the government seeks Interpol's help to press charges. I am not surpised communications have been driven online since most of the television channels are aligned with the government and, according to today's Straits Times newspaper, the one one television station aligned with the red shirts (the UDD, or United Front for Democracy Against Distatorship) has been (or was) shut down. This will only further fuel the fires in the online world.
Jon Russell in Thailand has been, for me, instrumental in drawing my attention to the story. For the second time in as many weeks, a bit thanks to Jon. I am sure Jon could do much better service to this story than I am.
Facebook | China Internet Watch: China Internet Users Reached 404 Million
State Council Information Office Minister Wang Chen shared last week that as of now, the number of Chinese netizens has reached 404 million; Internet penetration rate reached 28.9%, exceeding the world average. And, mobile Internet users reached 233 million people.
Total number of broadband users reached 346 million.
Related Posts:
- China Internet Statistics 2009 Summary
- China Mobile Phone Users: 703 million
- Update on the Number of China Internet Users
And it just keeps on growing and growing and growing....
This Week on For Immediate Release: Kaiser Kuo Talks with Michael about Google in China
This week on For Immediate Release (show #518) I speak with Kaiser Kuo about his views of Google in China. We spoke last Thursday, January 14, the day after the now famous Google blog post appeared in the RSS feeds.
Of course much has developed since then. In addition to Kaiser's always-engaging thoughts, a new article has appeared in the Wall Street Journal adding more complete thoughts about Google's market position in China, access to Google .com in China (as opposed to Google.cn), censorship of Google.cn in China, and the low key government responses. This is a good read, and seems to be very balanced in its perspective. One thing that has struck me as I follow this story is the perspective of some bloggers in China. I see a pattern. Four years ago when Google went into China the justification was that some search was better than no search, an argument based on the underlying assumption that the Internet could be a liberalizing force. We now see that such hopes did not come true and were, perhaps, rather idealistic. Similarly, I see bloggers in China ranting about how companies like Google need China and that the Chinese market is the must-be place for a technology company to be. How could any leading company walk away from China? Perhaps, again, rather idealistic. This morning I have an interview with Channel News Asia about the subject, so stay tuned for details about when the Insight program will run on Channel News Asia.
It's Not Google That's Withdrawing From China, But...
My favorite quote in the wake of Google's announcement has been this, found over at China Digital Times.
"It's not Google that's withdrawing from China; It's China that's withdrawing from the world."
A hat tip to Rebecca MacKinnon's tweets for sharing this one with us.
And my second favorite quote comes from Will, the one and only Imagethief.
"Google has taken the China corporate communications playbook, wrapped it in oily rags, doused it in gasoline and dropped a lit match on it."
[UPDATED] Six More Excellent Articles About Google's China Announcement
Two additional great reads about Google's announcement regarding its China operations have arrived in Google Reader this morning. Yesterday's list grew to ten posts, and these two are very good additions. Enjoy.
Open Net Initiative here
Rebeca MacKinnon's WSJ article here
[Update] I keep finding more, and here is Ethan's post from Harvard
Advertising Age shares thoughts here (featuring Sam Flemming and Kaiser Kuo)
Corp Comm pros will love this view from Imagethief
Jonathan Zittrain at Harvard here
Newsweek describing a PR victory here
Seven Links Discussing Google's Stance Toward China
Well, even though Haiti is getting some coverage today, my network is buzzing with discussions about Google's recent blog post, the information about cyberattacks, and Google's position that it does not want to filter search results in China.
While I have just recorded an interview with Kaiser Kuo, which will be live on the For Immediate Release podcast in the near future (stay tuned!), here are a few links just in case you have been busy today.
New York Times story here
New York Times story that Google story censored in China found here
Forbes article here
Web2Asia blog here
Susie Wee blog here
Harvard Business Review's story here
Difficult Problems in Cyberlaw (Harvard-Stanford course) here
[Update] Bernie in Ireland picks up the topic here
[Update] Bernard picks up the topic here
[Update] Chinasmack link here
As always the Interet is rushing forward with declarations of Google's stupid move, inappropriate cross-culture approach, and such. Rumors are already being retweeted...and retracted. Somehow, I doubt Google is stupid enough to pull a fire-ready-aim stunt with the Chinese government and world's largest Internet market. I don't believe for one moment they would trade the smug satisfaction of moral righteousness for all the money that can be made. For now, I am being patient and trusting that Google is as smart as I think they are.
Wait a minute. Wasn't I one of the guys who still thought Tiger was probably a good guy even after a second...and third mistress appeared? Hmmm....
Just stay tuned and I will let you know when the interview with Kaiser is live. Meanwhile, I will simply say that I too was tiring of China's filtering antics.
