Sina’s Latest Weibo Move Looks Like SNS 新浪似要发展社交网站

By newsdoug on May 31, 2011

Just two months after spinning off its popular Weibo microblogging service, Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) appears to be getting quite aggressive in the social networking space with its launch of a new service that looks suspiciously similar to a Facebook or Renren (Nasdaq: RENN). Domestic media are calling the quietly launched new service, called Qing, a “light blogging” product that conveniently connects seamlessly with Weibo. (English article) But based on the description of this product that allows users to post photos, video and articles, this looks much more like a full-blown social networking site aimed at using the strong market position of Weibo, often called the Twitter of China, to quickly build up a more traditional SNS service to rival Renren and IPO candidate Kaixin. If this is the case, it looks like a Sina goes social with qing brilliant move by Sina to beef up its social networking unit by combining a Twitter-like offering in Weibo with a Facebook-like one in this new Qing service. Of course, the end goal in all this is to create a company that can ultimately generate big profits and be spun off. Weibo has already shown its early moves in this direction, announcing its first acquisition a few weeks ago after being formally spun off from its parent. (previous post) It’s clear from this latest move that the evolution of Weibo into a strong player that can stand on its own has clearly just begun, and I’d look for even more innovative moves from this company in the next year.

Bottom line: Sina’s launch of a new SNS-like service, Qing, marks its latest move to build up a formidable player in the space with both Twitter- and Facebook-like capabilities in one company.

在将其微博业务剥离出去两个月後，新浪<SINA.O>在社交网络领域似乎又有非常积极的举动：它推出了一项与Facebook和人人网<RENN.N>非常相似的新服务“Qing”——一款可以实现与新浪微博无缝联结的轻博客产品。根据描述，这款产品允许用户上传照片、视频和文章，但看起来更像是一个完整意义的社交网站——旨在利用新浪微博的强大市场优势，快速建立起一个更为传统的社交网站，与人人网和开心网相抗衡。如果新浪果然要将类似Twitter的微博与类似Facebook的qing新服务结合起来，以增强其社交网络业务，那麽这可以说是非常聪明的一个举动。当然，其最终目标是创建一家高盈利性的公司并将其分拆出来。新浪微博已经在往这个方向前进了，比如几周前宣布了它的首个收购举措。显而易见的是，新浪微博进化成一个可以自给自足的市场强有力参与者的过程刚刚开始，我期待新浪在未来一年拿出更多有创意的举动。

一句话：新浪新推出qing轻博客服务意味着公司在实现社交网络雄心壮志道路上的最新一步，而且这家公司可以将Twitter和Facebook的功能兼于一身。