MySpace’s entry in China may need to adapt to local online culture as well as heeding orders from authorities. OurSpace, or NobodysSpace? From the Wall Street Journal:
As News Corp.‘s social-networking Web site MySpace tries to steer its way into China’s Internet market, it may find that it has to let someone else do the driving.
Former Microsoft Corp. executive Luo Chuan, who has started his own company in China, says he is in talks to form a partnership with MySpace, along with several other Chinese companies and the Chinese wing of an American company. Mr. Luo ran Microsoft’s MSN online services operation in China before leaving his post in December. …
The U.S. MySpace flourished as a venue for Americans to share their favorite music, photos and videos to express their individual personalities. But in China, many write blogs and bulletin board posts anonymously, or even use systems where they have avatars, or online only personas. “It is not always about me and me trying to be cool,” says Sam Flemming, the chief executive of CIC, a consultant that helps companies like Pepsi and Nike track China’s Internet culture. “It’s ‘our space.'” [Full Text, subscribers only]
– Also MySpace set to launch in China by the Guardian
