Difference between revisions of "Renren"
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
==Functions== | ==Functions== | ||
===Profile Views=== | ===Profile Views=== | ||
| − | + | With Renren, users have the option to see who has visited their profile. Users can see the ten most recent users who have clicked on their profile. This includes being able to see how many people have viewed your pictures and how many people have shared any of your posts. This information provides users with a standing of their popularity among friend on the social network. Knowing who has viewed your profile provides the user with information about recent activity from friends that can result in various implications, which can be both positive and negative. This is a feature that Facebook does not have. Instead, the competitor Facebook's method of feedback on profile and photo views is the "like" button. | |
| − | === Paid for | + | === Paid for Content === |
| − | + | Renren offers various paid for features. This includes do-it-yourself website design, which allows users to add different fonts and colors on their profile. Other paid for content includes rights to added background music and the option to send e-gifts, make private comments on pictures and light blogging. On competitor Facebook, users have the option to pay for additional applications but less freedom to customize the design of the page. | |
===Rizhi=== | ===Rizhi=== | ||
Entering content into the rizhi is the equivalent of creating a post. Renren encourages the expression of shorter thoughts with its input method rizhi, which translates to log in Mandarin. The limit for posts is 150 characters Other social media platforms such as Facebook promote the input of shorter content on "walls". | Entering content into the rizhi is the equivalent of creating a post. Renren encourages the expression of shorter thoughts with its input method rizhi, which translates to log in Mandarin. The limit for posts is 150 characters Other social media platforms such as Facebook promote the input of shorter content on "walls". | ||
===Friends List=== | ===Friends List=== | ||
| − | Renren allows users to classify groups of | + | Renren allows users to classify groups of people into user created categories such as best friend, family or boyfriend/girlfriend. Due to the One-Child policy in China that was in place between 1979 and 2015, it is common for users to connect to people outside of their family, such as with alumni and colleagues. This feature was created for Renren in 2005 and was only recently adopted by Facebook in 2010. In contrast, the social groups in Western culture tend to include usually parents and siblings. |
===Status Information Data=== | ===Status Information Data=== | ||
| − | Until its competitor Facebook, Renren does not allow users to post their relationship stats. This extended to not being able to upload information about your siblings or parents as well as not being able to input political or religious information. This feature promotes the purpose for why Renren was created, which was to create a social media platform that enabled communication without stirring political dissent against the Communist Party. | + | Until its competitor Facebook, Renren does not allow users to post their relationship stats. This extended to not being able to upload information about your siblings or parents as well as not being able to input political or religious information. Other information not provided on Renren includes sexual orientation. This feature promotes the purpose for why Renren was created, which was to create a social media platform that enabled communication without stirring political dissent against the Communist Party. |
===Couple Profile Page=== | ===Couple Profile Page=== | ||
[[File:couple.png|thumb|upright|alt=Sample couple's profile page.]] | [[File:couple.png|thumb|upright|alt=Sample couple's profile page.]] | ||
Revision as of 19:20, 20 February 2017
| Community | Anyone who creates an account |
| Membership | open, free, registered |
| Privacy | features that support privacy |
| Self Identity | Profile, Photos, Friends, "Likes" |
| Features | Sharing Photos, Online Chat, Journal |
| Status | |
| Launch Date | December 2005 |
| Users | 31 million |
Renren is a social networking website with 160 million registered users in China. Literally, Renren translates to "everyone's website" in Chinese and is known for being the people's network. Due to the Great Firewall, which controls the flow of information from the outside world including Facebook, social networking websites have arisen specifically for China. While the site remains popular, throughout 2015, Renren has faced significant decline due to strong competition and the inability to properly monetize its mobile platform Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag;
refs with no name must have content. In 2011, Renren faced a privacy leakage, revealing the confidential information of thousands of users. Ethical considerations for Renren include content filtering, improving the detection of fake users and analyzing the effects of Renren specific functions and features.
Contents
History
Renren - originally called Xiaonei.com - was created by a group of students at Tsinghua University and Tingjing University in May of 1999. One of the student creators, Joseph Chen, had created another company called Oak Pacific in October 2006 and had acquired Xiaonei through it.
In 2008, the mobile version of Xiaonei was launched, which featured an instant messaging section. Shortly after in August of 2009, Xiaonei changed its name to Renren, which in Chinese "people" or "person", promoting how the website is meant to be used by anyone. This helped with the expansion of the social network website.
Two years after changing its name, the company raised $584 million in capital in an IPO through the SEC index. Until late 2015, Renren had a market capitalisation of $2.86 billion Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag;
refs with no name must have content. Since then, the company value feel by 60% and now has a market capitalization of 571.58 Million Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag;
refs with no name must have content.
Chinese Firewall
The Chinese Firewall started in August 1996 and is part of a massive censorship program initiated by the Chinese government. Justification of the Chinese Firewall stems from the CL97, a law that criminalizes computer crimes beginning in the 1970s. Cyber crimes are categorized into two categories : crimes that target computer networks and crimes that are carried out over computer networks. The latter half of this categorization is what the Chinese Government uses to justify its Chinese Firewall, claiming that the distribution of information from other websites would be considered harmful to national security, which would then create public disorder Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag;
refs with no name must have content.
The Communist Party of China dictates that select websites be blocked from view, key words be filtered out, and that certain speech and online activities be filtered. The firewall not only filters out individual websites but also uses techniques to scan URLs and web page content for blacklisted keywords. Filtering out social networking websites such as Facebook forces people to use Chinese alternatives, ones that the government can control. In addition to acting as a barrier to information, the Chinese Firewall had said to act as a barrier to trade, with eight of the most trafficked websites in the US being blocked Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag;
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Golden Shield Project
In order to better carry out the Chinese Firewall, the Golden Shield Project started in 2003 and lasted until 2006 as a massive surveillance and censoring system project. The main activities of the project were to monitor domestic websites and email in effort to find uncompliant language. China's national police, the Public Security Bureau manned the project and made multiple arrests upon finding damaging content.
Effectiveness
Research has indicated that the very presence of the firewall has been more effective at blocking speech then the firewall itself. However, the firewall has had some success and filtering keywords out of Internet searches. Hundreds of websites remain blocked and users cannot get around it. Further, businesses are mandated to comply with the standards and is considered part of the ethics of doing business.
User Base
Social networks are built for the purpose of bridging and bonding social capital. As of September 2016, it's monthly login rate was 35 million compared to 45 million in September 2015 with a decrease of 22%. Because Renren appeals to younger generations such as college students, it's brand image is important to its appeal. Currently, the social media hub is dipping in popularity. In tandem with its renaming effort, we see the website trying to gain a larger user base. Despite these good effort's, the company stated it would be focusing back on campuses and students despite that it had previously lost its influence there.
Functions
Profile Views
With Renren, users have the option to see who has visited their profile. Users can see the ten most recent users who have clicked on their profile. This includes being able to see how many people have viewed your pictures and how many people have shared any of your posts. This information provides users with a standing of their popularity among friend on the social network. Knowing who has viewed your profile provides the user with information about recent activity from friends that can result in various implications, which can be both positive and negative. This is a feature that Facebook does not have. Instead, the competitor Facebook's method of feedback on profile and photo views is the "like" button.
Paid for Content
Renren offers various paid for features. This includes do-it-yourself website design, which allows users to add different fonts and colors on their profile. Other paid for content includes rights to added background music and the option to send e-gifts, make private comments on pictures and light blogging. On competitor Facebook, users have the option to pay for additional applications but less freedom to customize the design of the page.
Rizhi
Entering content into the rizhi is the equivalent of creating a post. Renren encourages the expression of shorter thoughts with its input method rizhi, which translates to log in Mandarin. The limit for posts is 150 characters Other social media platforms such as Facebook promote the input of shorter content on "walls".
Friends List
Renren allows users to classify groups of people into user created categories such as best friend, family or boyfriend/girlfriend. Due to the One-Child policy in China that was in place between 1979 and 2015, it is common for users to connect to people outside of their family, such as with alumni and colleagues. This feature was created for Renren in 2005 and was only recently adopted by Facebook in 2010. In contrast, the social groups in Western culture tend to include usually parents and siblings.
Status Information Data
Until its competitor Facebook, Renren does not allow users to post their relationship stats. This extended to not being able to upload information about your siblings or parents as well as not being able to input political or religious information. Other information not provided on Renren includes sexual orientation. This feature promotes the purpose for why Renren was created, which was to create a social media platform that enabled communication without stirring political dissent against the Communist Party.
Couple Profile Page
Users of Renren have the option to create a profile page as a couple. Every couple's page has a love tree, which needs to be watered through updating the profile and is the symbol for the growth of their relationship. After creating a couples page, users have then have the option to invite their friends to like the page. As with personal profiles, couples can manage the privacy of these shared profile pages.
Recent Growth Problems
Recently, runarounds business model his face a significant decline in the past few quarters. WeChat and Weibo have contributed to some of the competition that Renren is facing. As of March 2015, it's monthly user login was at 46 million, which is a 10% decline from last year. This is essential since the user base is a key factor in driving the monetization of the platform. Further, the company is having difficulty with monetizing from its mobile use, which accounts for 90% of the company is users. Relatedly quarter one 2015 revenues have fallen by 62.9% annually. In effort to make up for the poor revenue due to advertising, the company launched two new mobile games in effort to contribute to the lost profit. However this contribution had an overall negative affect on revenue.
Ethical Considerations
Privacy
Filtering
Renren Unique Features
User Freedom
Because of the high control by the Chinese government, any journals, photo albums, or even status updates could be removed.
References
[1] TECHNOLOGY SECTOR ACTIVE NEWS ALERT: GUIDEWIRE SOFTWARE INC (NYSE:GWRE), RENREN INC (NYSE:RENN) [2]
