China Herald: Why Facebook would not make it in China

Jeremy Goldkorn

For a few hours China's internet filters failed to block Facebook, causing some excitement. But internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn explains in Techcrunch why the would-wide famous social network does not make much chances in the largest internet market.

Techcrunch:

Jeremy Goldkorn, founding director of Danwei.com, a website and research firm that tracks Chinese media and internet, tells us that it was just a temporary bug that is getting fixed. He also adds that this is not a market where Facebook is making much headway at the moment:

“There is nothing Facebook can do to sort itself out in China,” he said in an email exchange. “Any attempt to enter the market as Facebook itself or to sneak in using a smaller company like Instagram is doomed and will lead to world of pain — a PR nightmare in the U.S. and a huge waste of money and energy in China.”

He adds that “the only smart thing” for Facebook to do in China is to invest in or acquire notable startups, “if they can find any.”

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Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.