Sina Versus Twitter, Fight!

Twitter is based in the US and has about 200 million global users.  Sina Weibo is based in China and has about 50 million users (as of Oct 2010).  Both of these platforms are known as microblogs which allow users to publish instant text messages on the internet within a 140-character limit.

Over the past few weeks our web application was enhanced to integrate with these two social media platforms and we notice some similarities and differences that may be of interest to others.  However this blog post isn't meant to be an exhaustive comparison.

Similarities

1. Has a 140-character text message limit (although in the Chinese language, one can express a lot with 140 characters)
2. Adopt the followers, following, mentions etc for the friends' social graph structure.
3. Has API for many languages (php, python etc) for developers to integrate applications into these services
4. Has URL shorterning services.
5. Supports OAuth 1.0a (a secure authorization standard).

Differences

1. Sina Weibo allows uploading pictures (in JPG, PNG etc formats) in a text message.  Twitter requires the use of a 3rd party service such as Twitpic.
2. Sina Weibo supports identity verification.  Users which are tagged with the letter V are verified users.  Well-known celebrities seem to have their screen names tagged with the letter V.  For regular users to be verified, they need to submit identification to prove who they say they are.  When a new user signs up at Sina Weibo, a list of verified users is recommended to be added to his/her follower list.  At Twitter, we had a few spammy users automatically following us after we first signed up.  
3. Developers who are building applications to integrate with Sina Weibo are required to get verification in order to have their application logo/image shown during the authorization process.  This may mean submitting their business licenses or certificates to Sina.  Twitter allows application logos to be shown without any verification process and there's no verification for individual users.
4. Sina Weibo supports commenting on text messages.  Twitter does not.
5. Sina Weibo supports saving anyone's text messages.  Twitter requires the use of a 3rd party service such as BackupMyTweets which only seems to save a user's own tweets.
6. We work with the Python SDK for both services.  Twitter's python SDK is Tweepy developed by a 3rd party.  Sina Weibo Python SDK is supported officially by Sina, and is basically a slightly modified copy of an old version of Tweepy.
7. Twitter is blocked in China while Sina Weibo is accessible globally.
8. Sina is listed in NASDAQ in the US stock market.  Twitter is a privately held company.

So which services should your web application integrate with?  In our experience, once you get Sina Weibo integrated, the integration with Twitter is very similar (in other words, buy one get one free).  Sina Weibo is your friend if you want to reach your potential customers in China.

A Beauty Pageant Contestant's Success Story

Here is a startup company story you don't hear every day.

Erica Yuen was a beauty pageant contestant.  She started blogging as a way to tell her relatives what's going on in the pageant.  Shortly after she won the 5th place in a beauty pageant contest, she thought she could be a star and be good at it.  Unfortunately things didn't turn out as expected.  The media pictured her as a fiery person who liked to make enemies with other female stars.

She continued to blog and somehow the media exposed her blog to the public.  Her fans started to read her blog regularly.  Occasionally she would write about a certain beauty product she used and things got interesting when she asked if anyone wanted to buy the same product.  She would bulk order the product from the USA.  She got over 300 requests through email.

Erica saw a business opportunity.  In the beginning, she would hang out at Starbucks and distribute the products to her new found customers.  But doing this was very time consuming.  She thought she needed some kind of e-commerce website that could handle the orders better.

She didn't know how to build a website.  She knew that those web design companies would rip her off.  She was wary of freelancers.  Finally she struck a deal with elle.com.hk.  Erica was a guest blogger on elle.com.hk before, so she asked elle.com.hk to build a website for her and in return, her e-commerce website would provide elle.com.hk with a few banner ads.  Her website was up in a couple of months.

Erica uses a lot of web tools to help with the marketing of her new business.  She has a Youtube channel.  She interacts with her customers through her own blog, her blog in elle.com.hk and her facebook page.  She monitors the comments in her blogs, facebook and other forums very closely to make sure that there are no unhappy customers.  Since business was so successful, she opened two brick-and-mortar stores to sell her products.  Her business has now acquired over 10,000 customers within a few months.

Erica knew in her heart that she wanted to take control of her life and be her own boss.  Her beauty pageant fame might have helped her get a head start, but it is the relentless pursuit of her goals that keeps her business moving forward.