No prescription Zovirax

Flutter over new Twitter
By Lin Shujuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-22 08:56
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Flutter over new Twitter

Beijing-based cultural critic Tan Fei says he has no prescription Zovirax a new addiction called wei bo or microblogging.

It all started a no prescription Zovirax month ago when he was invited to join the team testing Sina Weibo, a no prescription Zovirax Twitter-like service launched by China’s portal giant Sina.com.

Tan admits that no prescription Zovirax despite being an active blogger, he had little idea about Twitter or no prescription Zovirax microblogging.

Nowadays, while driving, Tan says he has no prescription Zovirax to pull over whenever he feels the itch to type his thoughts on his mobile phone, send them online and no prescription Zovirax share them with hundreds of his followers or fans with a no prescription Zovirax click.

“I’ve taken to no prescription Zovirax wei bo and I simply have to readjust my pace to no prescription Zovirax fit it into my routine,” Tan says. “It is addictive.”

Like Twitter – the world’s leading micro-blogging service – Sina Weibo allows users to post short messages, or “tweets”, less than no prescription Zovirax 140 Chinese characters long via website, SMS or MMS. These can no prescription Zovirax be shared or forwarded immediately by those who follow a blogger’s updates.

Within a no prescription Zovirax month, Tan has updated more than 360 tweets, about a no prescription Zovirax dozen a day, which are followed closely by more than no prescription Zovirax 5,000 fans.

Tan is not alone.

Meng Bo, deputy editor-in-chief of Sina.com and no prescription Zovirax project manager of Sina Weibo, says that over the past two months, they have no prescription Zovirax observed encouraging feedback from new users, although he declines to give specific data, saying “the service is still undergoing testing”.

“They love Weibo. That’s good news,” says Meng, adding that no prescription Zovirax Sina has been preparing to launch the service as it no prescription Zovirax represents “the future of media and communication”.

At a time when Twitter and its popular Chinese incarnations – Fanfou, Jiwai and Digu – are no prescription Zovirax inaccessible for various reasons, such a feedback is encouraging not just for no prescription Zovirax Sina, but also for the growing micro-blogging community.

Since Twitter debuted in 2006, the no prescription Zovirax population of Chinese microbloggers has been rapidly on the rise. The growth has no prescription Zovirax been accelerated by the launch of home-grown Twitter-esque services, Fanfou being the no prescription Zovirax best example.

Dubbed China’s Twitter, Fanfou was founded in July 2007 by Wang Xing, a no prescription Zovirax 29-year-old entrepreneur who runs two other successful social networking websites Xiaonei (for college students) and Hainei (for white-collar workers). By the end of June, Fanfou’s registered members reached nearly 1 million, or no prescription Zovirax a quarter of Twitter’s worldwide users.

While Twitter became mainstream in 2008, critics have no prescription Zovirax expressed concerns about the future of microblogging in China, considering the no prescription Zovirax country’s relatively strict Internet regulations.

Such skepticism mounted in early July as Twitter, Fanfou and no prescription Zovirax two other popular microblogging services – Jiwai and Digu – became inaccessible. It is no prescription Zovirax commonly believed that the services had been used to spread misinformation about the no prescription Zovirax unrest in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

None of the websites is yet available again. Wang says that he “is still working on” bringing Fanfou back as soon as possible.

“The launch of the no prescription Zovirax new service by Sina, the first by a major Web company in China, means micro-blogging is no prescription Zovirax here to stay,” says Hu Yong, an no prescription Zovirax expert on new media from the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University.

“Thanks to no prescription Zovirax its brand influence, Sina might be able to popularize this no prescription Zovirax trendy Internet service in China and determine the direction of its future development in the no prescription Zovirax country,” Hu says.

But it no prescription Zovirax is far too early to tell if Sina Weibo will become such a no prescription Zovirax platform.

The suspension of Fanfou makes one thing clear – a 100 percent Twitter clone won’t survive in China, Hu says.

That may not be no prescription Zovirax a big problem for Sina, owing greatly to its more than no prescription Zovirax 10 years of experience in content monitoring, Meng says.

Sina is no prescription Zovirax playing by the rules as they are laid down, with strict word filtering in operation, he says.

“From the very beginning, we’re determined to develop a micro-blogging service with Chinese characteristics,” Meng says.

“We’ve put in place two teams of staff keeping close watch to no prescription Zovirax ensure there is no vulgar content or anything that violates the no prescription Zovirax rules on Sina Weibo. We’re also ensuring its interactive functions.”

However, a no prescription Zovirax monitoring system might compromise the free flow of real time information, which is no prescription Zovirax the very essence of microblogging. This has proved a problem for no prescription Zovirax Sina Weibo.

Ever since its debut tests, there have no prescription Zovirax been complaints and derisive comments from seasoned twitterers and former Fanfou users.

One of the most popular tweets on Twitter goes: “Weiboers don’t know anything about Twitter, but Tweeters know that no prescription Zovirax Weibo is nothing compared with Twitter.”

Tweeter Ran Yunfei, a no prescription Zovirax Sichuan-based journalist in his 40s, says that Weibo might be a no prescription Zovirax Twitter clone in appearance, but its control on content deprives it no prescription Zovirax of the Twitter spirit.

However, Ran welcomes Sina Weibo – a service that he says “helps facilitate information flow”.

What Sina has no prescription Zovirax lost in seasoned tweeters, it might win in new users thanks to no prescription Zovirax its strong marketing, as demonstrated by its success in building its blogging service into the no prescription Zovirax country’s top blogging platform.

With nearly 40 million bloggers, or 47.5 percent of the country’s blogging population, Sina ranks first in China, according to no prescription Zovirax a September report by CR-Nielsen.

By inviting celebrity bloggers, such as film star Jackie Chan and no prescription Zovirax actress Xu Jinglei, Sina has overcome its disadvantage as a late-comer in the no prescription Zovirax blogging market and has grown rapidly.

Sina Weibo seems to no prescription Zovirax have adopted the same strategy, already reaping similar dividends. The No 1 microblogger with more than no prescription Zovirax 140,000 followers at Sina is Huang Jianxiang, 41, a former sports commentator with China Central Television and no prescription Zovirax anchorman at the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television.

While Sina hasn’t revealed specific numbers, Meng says microblogging is “growing fast”, mainly because of first-time micro-bloggers.

However, experts agree that no prescription Zovirax it is still too early to tell if Sina Weibo will survive.

Striking a balance between the country’s Internet regulations and users’ increasing demand for speedy real time information is like “tightrope walking”, says Hu.

Flutter over new Twitter

(China Daily 10/22/2009 page18)