Want to sign up for location based service? The Chinese always have the better option

Leave it to the Chinese to make things fancier, funner, more interactive and, well, better. While location based services are all the rage these days (think Foursquare where people childishly compete over mayorships and badges), Chinese start-up Douban has decided it’s about time that they join the bandwagon and basically offer more. Forget about badges for checking in while in an airport somewhere or for being on a ship or for partying with friends until 3 in the morning. Douban.com’s DuiJiao allows users to check-in to venues across China, and share their activity amongst anyone they choose to follow. DuiJiao is the latest addition to Douban.com features which now range from movie and book reviews, user blogs and brand mini sites to its original Last.fm-style music streaming.


So here’s the lowdown - DuiJiao has all the features of a “standard” location based service but what makes it really better is the fact that it provides the platform for people to share their expertise, tips and reviews about a certain venue or service and people can also ask! Moreover, DuiJiao can also let the users “follow” venues as well as individuals. This means that DuiJiao has infused the power of Twitter and microblogging within their location based service. This is a plus point for owners of a certain business since he or she can follow what the customers want, ask for, discuss about and even criticize. It’s instant feedback that they can “follow” or monitor using any Internet ready gadget or mobile/smart phone. Instant feedback straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Currently, Sina Weibo microblogging service users can log-in and use all the features by connecting with their Weibo account, for a single sign-in solution.

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Social media as a social business

If someone probably told you some 5 years ago that social media can also be a social business, your most likely response would be, “what is social media?” It probably would have been preposterous that media can be made “social.” But ah, technology and science have a funny way of turning things around and shaking things up a bit. Today, social media already occupies a big chunk of our everyday lives. Social media is now a social business and, yes, digital agencies such as Prosperity Research Digital Agency or PRDA have even already embraced this business model.

First things first. Social media as a business model is made possible through the integration of business intelligence, with social media expertise and business process effectiveness. This results in low risk and high return. These results can be enjoyed by businesses looking to leverage social media in a positive manner for consumers.


One great scenario for this is a small enterprise that is slowly using the power of social media and social networking websites. The enterprise may be using Facebook, Google+, Twitter, message boards, blogs, Sina Weibo and other social media tools. On the surface, the results are there --- better, faster interaction with target audience or existing customers, wider exposure for the brand, better search engine optimization efforts and more. However, what owners of these small enterprises may fail to understand is that the more they “listen” to their customers (through these social media networks), the more likely they can use these “eavesdropped” messages and convert them into organization-wide business intelligence. They can convert these pieces of information into helpful data which can also enable them to predict and plan for the future. It’s like having your very own CIA facility! Seriously, it helps to not only be socially active but also socially wise.

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With the advent of Google+, is this the start of the Google domination?

So with the seemingly fast rising popularity of Google+, Google’s newest social networking service, does this mean that there is also no stopping the world domination of Google? It might sound too far fetched today but didn’t it cross our minds as well that this thing called the Internet may not be as fancy as we all think it is? Ah, those were the good, old yet very naive days.



Going back to Google+…reports now say that the SNS market (outside China) is fast being penetrated by Google’s newest baby. Google’s +1 buttons may have only been out for about a month but the latest reports claim that more than 10 million people around the world have signed up for the service. Not bad for Google+’s very first week. We can just imagine the numbers now. Can we soon hear a fearless forecast of 50 million Google+ users in about 2 months?

According to search engine optimization companies, webmasters now frantically add the Google+ buttons in the hope that this can help attract more traffic, establish better search engine placement and yes, ultimately, better capacity to attract business. In fact, the Google+ buttons are now on 4.4 percent of at least 10,000 websites. This marks a jump from its initial 3.6 percent in June. If you compare these stats against Twitter, the latter’s plugins are only found on 3.4 percent of the 10,000 websites. Obviously that means that Google is doing a real good job in enticing more website owners to use the Google+ buttons and service.


However, the million dollar question now is…is Facebook, arguably the social networking website with the most users with about 750 million, worried at all? Or will they face Google and Google+ head-on? Certainly, these are exciting and fun times for social media and the Internet as a whole.

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Wheel2Wheel founder finishes amazing 125-day adventure

Morgan Parker, founder of non profit organization Wheel2Wheel, has come home…and he even arrived in style. Arriving on the 4th July at around noon, he was welcomed by friends, family, local motorbike riders as well as supporters. He led a pack of people mighty proud of his achievement. After all, how long has it been since a Brisbane, Australia native finished some 25,000 kilometers through Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor-Leste and finally in his native Australia? We may be wrong but we have a feeling that no other Australian has done something like this…and all for charity!


Truly, what Morgan Parker did was an amazing feat. His transcontinental charitable motorcycle expedition took him 125 days on the road but in all these 10 countries, he was able to raise awareness and even provide financial assistance to 10 brilliant yet under-recognized charitable organizations throughout Asia and Australia. To say that what Morgan Parker did was truly inspirational may even still be an understatement.

The Wheel2Wheel founder rode his trusty BMW F800GS motorbike through some of the region’s most beautiful and challenging terrain. He has truly shown persistence, will, dedication and passion for the under-privileged. His feat has become a reminder for those who have lost hope. His feat also serves as an inspiration for those who want to become heroes in their own right. Nothing is impossible. One can start small and one can also start with a big bang. What’s important is that one DOES something.


Morgan Parker’s feat is a great example of someone out there who is willing to cross borders, if only to help some people in need.

Wheel2Wheel is an innovative independent non-profit organisation created to raise awareness and provide financial assistance to brilliant yet under-recognised charitable organisations throughout Australasia. Wheel2Wheel is carbon neutral and entirely self-funded.

For more details, Find Wheel2Wheel on Facebook or follow them on Twitter!

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瞧瞧旅遊者關注什麼！中國旅遊業蓬勃發展

中國的旅遊業正在迅猛發展！顯然，2009年世界旅遊排行榜中，中國在世界遊客人次方面排在了頗具潛力的第四位，遊客數達5090萬人。而距現在，此報告已過兩年，我們都可以推測該數字已經增長，並會持續增長。

旅遊業可以成為一個國家努力發展和怎樣發展的最大因素之一。以中國為例，這些遊客人次的數據也顯示了許多其他事情的信號。除了因中國旅遊業速發展的迫切需求之外，它也同時體現了商人、投資者和休閒人士的信心水平。在網絡世界層面上，它告訴了現在是進入以下所有活動的大好時機：旅遊博客，旅遊預訂引擎，旅遊評論網站，或是旅遊套餐/旅遊網。讓我們以百度網以及去哪兒網為例。後者從前者取得了難以置信的3億6百萬美元的戰略性投資。該數字代表了中國線上旅遊市場的最大戰略性投資，同時對兩家公司來說也是最大的一筆。涉及如此大筆的金額，你可以了解到現在中國旅遊業中具有無限商機。

Travelzen (http://hk.travelzen.com) 和C-Trip (http://english.ctrip.com/)也是現在遊客們查找中國遊最新消息的兩個網站。從上海的假期旅遊套餐到北京遊，這些旅遊網站正在忙碌於滿足全球感興趣遊客的需求。

所以現在的問題是——你何時加入這個行列？

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Understanding the complicated, sophisticated China online shopper

Are you engaged in the online retail business in China? Or do you intend to? You might be fascinated to know that in China, almost half of the online shoppers have this tendency to complain by making a phone call to the customer service department of that website and leave a complaint on the said online retailer company’s website. Are you ready to face this 50 percent, if and when these complaints come rushing in? Interestingly, about 20 percent of the online shoppers in China who are not satisfied with the product or service will simply leave and will never ever buy from that online retailer website again.


According to a survey conducted by iResearch during last December as well as this January, complaints by dissatisfied customers will be likely coursed through the customer service phone line. This accounts for about 45.8 percent. In second place comes the tendency of these dissatisfied clients to complaint at the website’s guestbook. The next things that the China online shopper would do include doing nothing but never buying from that website ever again, complaining at online forums and finally, complaining to a consumer association. If you ask us, best thing to do in order to avoid these circumstances would be to put up an effective and time-conscious phone line where customers can easily air their grievances, put up a working contact form or even a live chat feature where customers can easily interact with a knowledgeable customer service representative and most importantly, hire a social media agency or digital agency that knows how to protect your brand online. Brand reputation, after all, is very important and if ever there comes a time that a customer will air his or her grievances online, at least you have an agency that can also pump up the good things about your company or about your online retail business. Believe us, it’s good investment.



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這是一個全新的社交網絡

從開始時，我們就都知道這件事會到來。人們不會再訪問網站，而是十分依賴社交網絡，更喜歡將所有事情都概括在140字之內，我們知道這只是個時間的問題。網絡仍然是搜索的渠道嗎？或者說互聯網正在迅速變成一個全新的社交網絡？

答案就在Silicon Alley Insider最近近發布的一個研究之中。它顯示了網民瀏覽Facebook的時間在迅速提升。與其他網站相比，當它們的訪問量以及使用時間不斷減少時，Facebook卻有69%的增長（並很可能仍在增長）。那麼這意味著什麼？除了它顯示出網民們現在轉向使用社交網絡，它也同時表明，如果你有一個網頁或是博客，那麼從現在開始，充分利用Facebook或其他社交網站是個很棒的想法。畢竟，流行趨勢很明顯：如果你沒有利用社交網絡的力量，那就準備好落後於他人吧。

事實如此：現在所有事情都交織在更加深層次的，更加私人化的網絡之中。即使你有最閃耀的網頁，即使你將所有細節加入你的博文，這些仍然需要被分享——而且需要盡可能多的個人交流。這可以通過社交網絡來實現。你可以通過社交網絡表達你自己的想法和感受，你個人的觀點和冥想，不管它們是多麼積極還是消極。這是當今互聯網的一部分，並隨著每個網民而增長和發展，不管他身處何方。

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