Facebook and MySpace too late to achieve world domination?

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:53:47 -0700

U.S.-based social networks like MySpace and Facebook have established an intimidating user base in the U.S., but as they reach out for a global audience, home-grown or cloned regional social networking sites haved proved to be difficult to compete against. As Facebook leverages user-created translations and MySpace opens foreign offices, the services are churning out press releases trumpeting their respective international accomplishments. However, in many countries, localized social networks already have significant market share, and show no sign of making way for the American newcomer.

As I noted in a post on Profy last month, there are at least three localized Russian social networks with large audiences. One of them is a virtual clone of Facebook. In China, Xiaonei raised $430 million in venture capital, more than Facebook's entire bankroll. And yesterday, Serkan Toto noted in a TechCrunch article why the two U.S. social networks are failing to gain much ground in Japan.

The smart thing, of course, would be for Facebook or MySpace to buy out the local competition rather than attempt to compete against them. While Silicon Valley may still be driving a formidable amount of online development, it's not the only hotbed in tech. Back in April, Melissa Chang suggested here on The Industry Standard that Facebook had the edge since it was relying on user-translated localization before allocating resources in each country, but free translation and reliance on users has occasionally resulted in what users describe as poor translations, as well as a dependence on users to report inappropriate ads. Some Facebook users reported seeing ads for porn or competing social networking sites, and others, ads promising illegal content.

In Germany, Facebook is suing a clone, but it's much easier for a company to change the look and feel of a site to avoid a lawsuit than it is for Facebook or MySpace to recreate the userbase that's already declared loyalty to the local sites.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

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