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连通中国与世界,腾讯将推国际社交网站测试版

发布时间:2011-01-17 18:05:32 Tags:,,,,,

腾讯最近宣布将在2011年初推出一个测试版的国际社交网站,与其同台亮相的还有QQi(国际版本的QQ聊天工具),这些迹象是否表明,腾讯正在走向世界?

事实并非如此,这个新社交网站与QQi的宗旨都是促进中国人和外国友人的互动与沟通,它更像是一种“中国为主,外国为辅”的服务,并不走纯粹的国际化路线。所以大家无需过度解读,腾讯的这一动作并不是在向Facebook示威。

另外需要指出的是,国际化运营也并不是腾讯关注的头等大事。QQi这个多国语言版本的聊天工具增加了许多第三方服务,耗时将近两年才正式出炉(游戏邦注:一年用于初级测试,一年用于推出国际测试版)。QQ国际项目组的总部在上海,仅10到30名成员有幸从成千上万的腾讯员工中被筛选出来,加入了这个团队。

QZone-pengyou-international sns

QZone-pengyou-international sns

群组功能

话虽如此,让这个新社交网站成为中国和世界沟通的桥梁倒也是件好事。要知道Facebook根本无法入华,而中国最大的社交平台人人网和QZone也还没有推出英语版本。

在此要奉劝各位,在QQi和这个新社交网站上发布的内容一定要符合中国政府的规定,因为它们和其他中国社交网站一样都要受到政府的审查和监控。

腾讯已经拥有强大的QQ Groups产品,并打算将这些功能植这个国际社交网站中。比如说,一所中文学校可以通过该服务创建自己的网站,实现外国人与导师之间的问答互动,也可以在该平台快速上传文件。

QQ国际项目组的产品经理Marc Violo表示,在该社交网站中,每个群的页面都可以在线保存任何形式的文件。本来他们也可以选择将QZone或QQ Groups直接翻译成国际版本,但考虑到这项服务要面对的是新用户,所一切都得从头开始。比起个人用户,他们更关注用户群组的功能。当然用户还是可以创建自己的个人页面,但这个国际社交网站仍然会鼓励用户在不同的群组中表现自己。

希望腾讯能顺利找入切入点,在该社交网站中恰当植入群组功能,因为这项任务对Facebook等其他社交网站来说也仍然是一个难以突破的挑战。

匿名制

腾讯朋友是实名制的社交网站,但它看起来更像是成熟版的匿名制社交网站QZone。不过腾讯的这个国际版社交网站不会再推行实名制了,因为他们并不想强迫用户提交个人信息,这一点也会在该网站的使用条款中体现出来。

QQi目前的注册帐号已经超过了200万个,平均每日活跃用户人数高达17万,其中有60%用户位于中国境内,还有40%则来自海外。中国用户独占45%,他们使用QQi的原因是想和外国人聊天,或者纯粹只是想用QQi版本而已。

据游戏邦了解,用户的QQ或QQi帐号信息,可以在这个新社交网站上同步更新,用户还可以通过该网站查看自己与好友的聊天记录。

如果不算上腾讯之前失败的QQ Campus和QQ校友的话,这个国际社交网站就是继QZone、腾讯朋友之后的第三个社交网站。这些网站都可以连接到腾讯的拳头产品——QQ聊天工具,但目前尚不清楚这几个网站之间能否互访。之前曾有不少人认为腾讯是一个管理高度集中的企业,但从他们社交网站的并列运营模式来看,情况并非如此,正如Marc Violo所言,“我们团队的独立性很强,就好像是好几个小公司同时在一个大企业中运营。”

这个国际社交网站的名称尚未公布,我们是不是可以暂时将它称为Qsocial或Qbook?(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Coming Soon: Tencent’s “International” Social Network

Tencent recently announced an international social network, with a beta version coming in early 2011. This follows the launch of QQi, the international version of the QQ instant messenger. So is Tencent going international?

Not really. As with QQi, the focus of the new social network is to connect Chinese and foreign friends, with a focus on expats. It’s more “China-plus” than it is international. So please no articles on “Tencent to Compete Internationally with Facebook.”

But nor is international a top priority for Tencent. The release of QQi, a multi-language version of an instant messenger with some added 3rd party services, took nearly 2 years (one year light experimentation, one year international beta). The QQ International team, headquartered in Shanghai, is staffed with only “10 to 30″ employees out of tens of thousands of total employees at Tencent.

Yet a social network to connect China and the world does address a niche need. Facebook is blocked and China’s largest networks, RenRen and QZone, lack English-language versions.

Just be warned, your connection is on the Chinese government’s terms. Content on QQi and the new social network will be censored as it is on all Chinese social networks.

The Intended Killer Feature: Groups

Tencent already has a strong QQ Groups product and intends to leverage some of these functionalities in its new international social network.

For example, a Chinese school could set up its own site, connect foreigners to tutors, ask and answer questions, and upload large files at fast speeds. “Every group page will be able to store any kinds of files online,” says Marc Violo, a Product Manager at QQ International.

We could have chosen to provide a simple translation of QZone or QQ Groups, but we’re dealing with a completely new audience. So we started something from scratch. The focus is groups rather than individuals.

Of course, users will still have a personal page, but we’re pushing users to represent themselves in all the groups that they belong to in real life.

Hopefully Tencent will find the right format to build groups into this social network, as it’s been a struggle for others including Facebook.

A More Mature Image

Pengyou, Tencent’s real-name social network, seems to be a more mature version of QZone, Tencent’s nickname-based social network.

Nonetheless, this new social network will not require real names, which is the policy for Facebook and Pengyou. “We don’t want to force our users to provide information. That will not be included in our terms of use,” says Violo.

Slow, Steady Progress Towards Internationalization

QQi has traction addressing this niche. It claims over 2 million registered accounts, with an average of 170,000 daily active users. About 60% of users are inside China and 40% outside. And about 45% of users are Chinese, who want to communicate with foreign friends or simply prefer the international version.

A user’s QQ (or QQi) account will of course be able to synchronize with the new international social network. And users will eventually be able to view the QQ chats they’ve had with friends on the network.

Silos within Tencent

The social network space also reveals silos within Tencent. There are several different teams working on social networks, largely independently: this is Tencent’s third social network property after Qzone (nickname SNS) and Pengyou (real-name SNS). Earlier failed social networks by Tencent include QQ Campus and Xiaoyou.

All of these networks connect to QQ, Tencent’s flagship product, but it’s unclear if they will otherwise connect to each other. I’d always envisioned Tencent as a top-down, tightly-integrated firm, but in the case of social networks, they’re operating multiple parallel products. Marc Violo notes, “We’re quite separate, we’re like mini-corporations within one corporation.”

The new social network’s name is not yet public, so for now we can only speculate: Qsocial or Qbook?(source:techrice)


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