Update: Facebook Anyone is a popular article about Facebook in China
Facebook, one of the most popular websites in the world, is blocked in China. It was suddenly blocked in August 2009, when riots had broken out in XinJiang province, and it has remained blocked to this day. Several reasons come to mind as to why internet censorship authorities would like to prevent people from accessing Facebook: First, RenRen.com, a Chinese website which is very similar to Facebook, is currently gaining popularity, and it has more than 160 million active users in China; Blocking Facebook helps RenRen grow. The second and possibly the main reason is the significant role Facebook has played in the Arab world riots that have been taking place recently. Unblocking Facebook, it seems, remains a viable threat in the eyes of policy makers.
Many western countries criticize the decision to censor the internet, and they are right in that websites such as Facebook contribute greatly in networking, in expressing freedom of speech and in connecting people from all over the world. Yet, while websites such as Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are blocked and while there have been occasions that the websites of The New York Times and of Linked-In were blocked as well, one has to wonder about the value that a website such as Facebook creates for the internet users community, which is increasingly growing world wide.
According to Nielsen.com, a global leader in research and information, Facebook is becoming one of the most popular websites on the web. On February 2010, Nielsen.com conducted a survey and inquired how many hours does the average American internet user spend on Facebook every month. The result: The average American user spends more than 7 hours each month on Facebook. Out of 203 million Americans who surf the web, more than 116 million use Facebook. Given that the population of the United States is estimated at roughly 311 million people, one can calculate that approximately 37 percent of the population in the United States uses Facebook.
These data indicate that 116 million people are spending an average of 7 hours less a month on working, studying or contributing to society in any other way. (The number of monthly hours spent on Facebook has probably risen in the past year, yet newer data is unavailable)
Facebook Anyone?
Chinese students have recently demonstrated that hard work pays off. In the most recent PISA examination (the Program for International Student Assessment), students in Shanghai surprised experts by outscoring their counterparts in dozens of other countries in reading, in math and in science. Although the test does not reflect, by any means, the academic level of students from the rest of China, it does reflect the level of a part of China that is becoming more meaningful and relevant in the global playing field: These are students with which foreigners will have to compete for jobs.
The results of the PISA examination represent a culture that puts great emphasis on learning and on spending more time on studying rather than on other
extra curricular activities. In a previous post, Running in your Sleep, I wrote about the relentless path Chinese students of all ages go through and about the cost that this type of lifestyle endures. This type of lifestyle, however, collides with statistics published in August 2010 which clearly indicate that China is the biggest internet market in the world with more than 420 million active users (U.S is ranked second with 239 million users).
It seems, therefore, that young adults are able to maintain a strict level of balance between studying and using the internet; This balance is crucial for China as it develops and further depends on the ability of people to rise above foreign competition. In China, the time that people save from not using Facebook is generally not invested in extra curricular activities as it may in the west but rather in studying, working or creating value for the economy.
Share your thoughts: Do you think that blocking Facebook helps Chinese students succeed? How much is Facebook a distraction in your life?
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Lior Paritzky is the Editor in Chief and Manager of Laowaiblog, an internet platform that provides opinion and views about social phenomena in modern China. Look for Lior on Twitter: Liorpari 
Very interesting post.
However- I don’t agree with the following statement you made-
“..116 million people are spending an average of 7 hours less a month on working, studying or contributing to society in any other way.”
I think those 7 hours are at the expense of ‘extra curricular activities’ as you call it (or ‘watching TV’ as I call it), so the impact on american economy & education is not that crucial.
On the other hand, even if Facebook wasn’t blocked in china- would chinese students still use it instead of studying? are they using the ‘chineses facebook’ (RenRen.com) instead of studying? my guess is probably no.
So the question of whether blocking FB has positive effects can only be answered if you know whether using FB comes at the expense of ‘curricular’ or ‘extra curricular’ activities.
And anyway, I believe that the human rights issues associated with that problem far outweigh the 7 hours of study a month a chinese student may or may not lose.
Jhonny, What human rights issue? how does blocking Facebook in China interfere with human rights? Facebook is a social network. Its role is to connect people globally. I don’t think that preventing people from connecting with one another qualifies as a “human rights issue”
AXIOMS and DEFINITIONS:
facebook is a social network website.
A social network website is a website.
blocking a website is blocking the exchange of information.
blocking exchange of information is censorship.
censorship is a human rights issue.
PROOF:
facebook is a social network website.
A social network website is a website.
facebook is a website.
blocking a website is blocking the exchange of information.
blocking a facebook is blocking the exchange of information.
blocking exchange of information is censorship.
blocking facebook is censorship.
censorship is a human rights issue.
blocking facebook is a human rights issue.
quod erat demonstrandum
of course, this also applies to blocking any other social network website.
As a senior user (over 3 years) of both Facebook and “RenRen”. I want to say something about this topic.
Firstly, I am highly doubt that Facebook can defeat their emerging competitors directly. The biggest competitive advantages for Facebook are global brand, and more wide range of user/geographic-base. Except that, all th function Facebook could provide that has been generated effectively by their chinese competitors. You can live talk, add picture/article/music, playing on-line game, make friends and comments and so on. Since chinese companies such as RenRen, Kaixin has built strong brand royalty towards their users, and their stragy is well designed to their targeting customer.
The success of Facebook based on strong “party” culture and people’s intension of making friend globally. But Chinese users are more interested in the function of information/news sharing through net-working website since Facebook usually be used for fun/entertainment, and most of they don’t have a global friend-base. In addition, the Facebook’s web design is not chinese user’s favorite as I think, and its game range is bit of not attractive for chinese. So from my point of view, Current Facebook is little boring for mainland chinese dueto their interests and special culture.
Although Facebook has achieved huge success around the world, they may not achieve the success easily in China.
Probably the easiest way to succed in China for China is M&A, and that’s china Government won’t allow them to do because they don’t want ameraican-based company to control the most of chinese younger generation’s profile. And even Facebook just make agreement with government that enter china market, there will be huge potential of facing regulatory problem.
So, Facebook won’t be a such popular brand like Google in China. Although it may enter china market some day (I believe), Facebook will find that they are not that important.
Hi Shuyuan,
Thank you for your comment. Although I do not have a profile on RenRen, I agree with you that it provides everything that Facebook has. Yet, I also think that if Chinese youth wants to be a part of the open world, then Facebook plays a major role in that process. You talked about how most Chinese users don’t have a global friendship base, and I agree, but I also think it is a matter of time until that might change. Don’t you think that Renren and Kaixin only increase the isolation for Chinese youth in the world?
Lior
Thank you for reply, Lior!
I totally agree with you that Chinese youth wants to be a part of the open world as Facebook should play a major role. As No.1 global social net-working site, using facebook can easily help Chinese youth find people with common interest and make friendship. It will be strongly beneficial for China’s development because narrow-minded and ignorance comes from isolation. When chinese communicate with world more often, then they can understand the world better and world can know China better as well.
Therefore, we strongly need Facebook as a useful tool to achieve this goal and show us as a “open, friendly, innovative Country” to the world instead of “agreessive, arrogant, cheating dictatorship-based state”.
However, I don’t agree with that RenRen or Kaixin cause “isolation issue” but Government’s intension. Government won’t allow Facebook to entry into china without special terms and conditions based on three issue: protecing local companies; information security and Facebook’s function of “organizaing activities”
For protecting local companies, they may believe that the entry of Global giant Facebook will create intensive competition in market that RenRen or Kaixin won’t afford it. Although I think only competition can make local site really grown-up, Government apprently have their own concerns
For Information Security, that’s an even more important issue. Social-net working has their databse which stores massive information of their user’s profile. Government may worry that Facebook, which is an american-based company, will share their data with US state (as I think they are) and it will cause a serious problem in their “global strategic plan”.
And also, Government may want Facebook share their China database with them to achieve their “Information Control” strategy. State in china has been smart enough to realize that knowing what they think is better than change their thinking. Website censorship, or Deleting comment in Internet is not deisgned for making people to “shut up”, but showing public their capability of “understanding you”, and they can react based on this “understanding’. However, during the Xinjiang Riots (the time they banned Facebook), they realized that when people use Facebook, they can’t predict their action since no information has been obtained due to Facebook’s American Background. So they won’t allow them operate in China unless Facebook will compromise with them.
Of course, Facebook may compromise with state and entry into China sooner or later due to the attractiveness of China Market.
But for my business point of view,despite china youth will have options of using both Facebook & RenRen and Kaixin. Facebook won’t dominant Market share so that Local sites will still more user-base because it brings more fun to China youth.
Lior, Facebook is just another communication tool, like the cell phone. The technology of the development of these Internet connected tools of various kinds, link to one another. We can easily see Facebook and what we are doing now on your blog as a kind of entertainment which we believe we can easily do without, or do with, depending on the situation. However I think this technology development is built upon human nature, man’s nature to communicate. Therefore, this process the growth of these multi functional tools on the Internet that also have entertainment and communication and productivity functions cannot be resisted. And as the governments of various countries believe they can control them, ultimately they will not. People’s pressure as consumers and as voters will not let them. CHinese people have a longer journey ahead than other parts of the world, but it is the same path.. We have been seeing now the struggle between international companies and governments develop slowly since the end of WWII. This battle is fed now by the Internet, that is the power of the companies to enter the territory of the nation state. This is also seen as a steady process of globalization. It began when man left Africa. You and I are only sharing one lifetime segment of it. Already there are ways to get around the government’s attempts to control by having direct satellite links. Satellite seems bulky and expensive and troublesome now, but all it needs is a few innovations and it could liberate us from ground based system servers which one agent turns on or off. In the future the struggle would be with the satellite owners. If there is some way to leap beyond building a hugely expensive satellite, and make something which could use the particles of space to reflect transmission beams……well I am wandering into SF theory….sorry.;-)
Interesting post. I did not think about that side of blocking the internet, and the influence it has on education. I don’t agree though that if Facebook would not have been blocked in China children would have studied more. I think Education in China is already embedded so deeply into the culture, that there is really nothing that can throw it off track
What is the benefit of Facebook? Comeon. I keep in touch with all of my friends this way, and it’s easy to keep in touch with friends who are out of the country. It is not only a “waste of time”….
The time we all spend on Facebook is wasted. There is absolutely no way to claim that this time is “invested” in any way. This website encourages us to peep into other people’s lives, and we feed ourselves with more gossip. It creates more distance between us and our friends, when actually our “friends” on Facebook are mostly people we are not in touch with or barely know. Also notice that the news we all share is all good news, you will never see someone post bad news about anyone on there. It creates the impression that life is perfect and that only good things are happening, which is obviously not true.
As for Facebook in China, I think it’s a good thing. As an addict myself, I sometimes wish that this website would not have been created. Now that I know it’s here, it’s hard to stop using it, but if I didn’t know it existed, I would have probably been happier.
Lior, your posts are all backed up with facts, and it is truly interesting to read. I like how every one of your ideas for a post is backed up with statistics or data, it makes the article much more viable this way.
As for the content, you have only touched how the facebook block in China has paved the way for blocking of more websites, but to me that is the main issue. It is not just about Facebook. Facebook is merely a sign, or a signal if you will, of a new element that policy makers are using to further control content. That’s it.. everything else is just speculation..
Hi Naomi,
Although you are right and Facebook is only one of a few websites that are blocked in China, I chose to talk about it because this website is the most important of those that have recently been blocked. Don’t forget, it is not just any website, it is the most popular website in the world.
Lior
are you sure that facebook is more popular than google?
Yes, absolutely. You can read about it here:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/finally-facebook-more-popular-than-google/
Cheers
Lior, how can you speculate that “people spend 7 hours less a month on working, studying or contributing to society in any other way?”
I don’t think that Chinese people are using the time they save from not using Facebook for the things you mentioned. I think they are sleeping, eating or pretending to work
What makes you think that Renren is not a suitable replacement for Facebook? I mean, why do foreigners have the need to say “what is good for us must be good for you”. I think everyone in China is happy (they mostly have never heard of Facebook) because relationships here are much more real than anywhere else in the world. Guanxi (relationships) is one of the most fundamental elements of the Chinese culture. I am not sure that even if Facebook were here, it would have been as successful as it is in the west.
While Renren might be a suitable replacement for Facebook within China, it would be nice to have just one website that everyone in the world uses. While I could have a Renren account to keep up with my friends in China, it would be annoying to check on it, and I would probably end up just losing touch with my friends (at least that’s what happened to me with QQ when I moved back the the States). And Facebook is not entirely a waste of time, me and my friends use it to plan events and such and it has almost replaced email for us. My French teacher posts our homework on facebook everyday so if we forget it we always have somewhere to check. And while it’s true that some facebook friends we don’t really know, mostly we just ignore those. And facebook does not create the illusion of a ‘perfect life’; while it’s true that really bad events wouldn’t be posted on there, minor bad things tend to be. People don’t post really bad events on facebook because it’s personal, not because they want to create the feeling of a ‘perfect life.’ Me and my friends used facebook to keep in touch with a friend who moved back to Korea, and we would have certainly lost contact with her if we didn’t have facebook. I can think of many other reasons, but I feel like my time would be better spent on Facebook than this blog.
To answer your question, Lior, Facebook is not a huge distraction in my life, but then again I am not fully aware of how much time I really spend on it. Considering how America has become a fat and lazy society (excuse me for my language but I am speaking as an American) Facebook is just a symptom. If it didn’t exist, someone would have made up something else that would make us sit all day facing some type of screen.
Communication is essence of life:
A man and a women have communicated and you are born.
Impeaching humans to communicate goes against humanity.
while I appreciate your interest in my post and the thoughts on your blog, I completely disagree with and am very suspicious of your conclusions. Your ‘blog’ post assumes that if facebook is blocked in China it is only a benefit since then Chinese students will automatically spend more time studying and becoming more productive citizens. Every time that I visited an internet cafe in China, the young people were not using the internet for study or to become more productive citizens, 90% were playing violent and fantasy video games, the rest were chatting with friends or looking at fashion and shopping websites. You also assume that spending time on facebook is only wasting time while in fact facebook can be an effective social network tool for all kinds of educational, productive, and artistic endeavors. To have a ‘blog’ that works to apologize for the censorship in China and even to rationalize new excuses for it, makes me extremely suspicious of your so-called ‘blog.’ I would like to ask, is the amount of money the PRC is paying you for each new post really worth your dignity and intellectual honesty?
Dear William,
Despite your suspiciousness, the authors of Laowaiblog are not being paid by the PRC or by anyone even remotely related to the government or to any government organization of any kind. The blog is meant to express the opinion and views of people who have been living in China, most of them are foreigners. While some of the views seem biased to you, it is obvious that you have not read any other posts on the website, because if you had you would have noticed that criticism against some actions taken in China by the government is very much prominent. Therefore, your statement that the blog “apologizes for the censorship in China” is simply out of place and wrong.
Regarding the post itself, the author specifically wonders, in the final line, if “Do you think that blocking Facebook helps Chinese students succeed?”. If you disagree with this statement, it is your right, and we would like to hear it.
it is true that Facebook is a great networking tool – here we are using it to connect with one another. It does make you wonder, though, how much time people are spending on Facebook (and yes, on violent computer games as well), rather than doing other things that might have contributed to themselves or to the people around them.
In general, we encourage debate, and we hope that people who disagree with the opinion that is written in the blog express their opinion. Yet, we resent the tone that our website is biased or held by any other entity. We hope to have more fertile discussions in the future.
Dear Lior Paritzky,
I do hope that what you are saying is true; namely that your blog encourages debate and fertile discussions, and is open for people who disagree to express their opinions. But don’t you think this is all rather ironic since this kind of free and open discussion that can happen on facebook is censored in the PRC? As well as a whole range of topics such as Ai Weiwei, Liu Xiaobo, Tibet, Dalia Lama, Taiwan, Falun Gong, Tank Man, June 4, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, etc. are censored from blogs originating in China? What is so worrying is that if a internationally famous figure like Ai Weiwei can be so blatantly abused by the Chinese police in the glare of publicity, what kind of human right protections can ordinary Chinese citizens hope for?
And about anyone being suspicious of blogs about China – if you have been living and working in China for any amount of time you have to know it is common knowledge that the Chinese government pays thousand to write postings that show the PRC in a favorable light in online chat rooms, social networking services, blogs, and comments sections of news Web sites.
According to noted China researcher Rebecca MacKinnon, China allegedly employs 280,000 people to troll the Internet and make the government look good.
In 2008 the Hong Kong-based researcher David Bandurski determined that at least 280,000 people had been hired at various levels of government to work as “online commentators” known derisively as the “fifty cent party.”
Many more people do similar work as volunteers — recruited from among the ranks of retired officials as well as college students in the Communist Youth League who aspire to become Party members. And the government increasingly combines censorship and surveillance measures with proactive efforts to steer online conversations in the direction it prefers.
Just one (of hundreds) example of how facebook can practically do some good in the world:
See how the Facebook page “Pictures and Documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes” is reuniting storm survivors with their prized — and in some cases, only — possessions.
Memories Scattered by Southern Storms Land on Facebook
nyti.ms
Created by Patty Bullion, of Lester, Ala., a page on Facebook posts pictures and other keepsakes that fell from the sky after the violent storms that tore through the South.