Facebook users in Vietnam are wondering whether or not to stay with this network or join a new one, as access to Facebook is difficult. Is this an opportunity for Vietnamese social networks?

Facebook users in Vietnam are wondering whether or not to stay with this famous network or join a new one, as access to Facebook is increasingly difficult. Is this an opportunity for Vietnamese social networks?

Vietnamese social networks have advantages to foreign ones, including the fact that they are developed by Vietnamese for Vietnamese.

In 2009, Vietnam’s social network users hit a crisis period when their favorite site – Yahoo! 360 officially closed on July 13. After that, the social network market divided.

Those who like local social networks became members of Yume, Zingme, Tamtay, i-pro, Henantrua, Vietspace, etc., while others who like foreign networks joined Multiply, Wordpress, Yahoo Plus, Twitter, etc. However, none rules the market.

There are three major categories of social networks: ego-centric, relationship-centric and content-centric. Yahoo! 360o was the “giant” of the Ego-centric category, which ruled the Vietnamese market for a long time. Other categories have appeared in Vietnam, with Tamtay, Yobanbe, Clipvn, Sannhac, Anhso.net as representatives.

While Vietnamese social networks have taken measures to attract members of other networks, with a simple version offered in Vietnamese, with diverse services and attractive utilities, Facebook became a phenomenon in Vietnam in late 2009.

At some times, several Internet service providers in Vietnam didn’t allow Internet users to access Facebook for many reasons. Some claimed this was an opportunity for local social networks to win, but it is not so simple.

The establishment of new social networks like Zingme, FPT 1280 Ngoisaoblog.com, Clip.vn, Cyworld.vn, Yobanbe.vn, Cyvee.com, Phununet, Henantrua.com, etc. have made competition fierce.

Zingme, operated by Vinagame, is a “star” among the networks. It is considered as a “copy” of Facebook, with friendly functions and utilities and fast speeds. However, Facebook emphasizes connection-centric while Zingme focuses on content-centric and entertainment.

After Facebook access became difficult in Vietnam, Zingme immediately launched an application allowing users to transfer their data from Facebook to Zingme, including noting, video and photo uploading, etc.

This move caused a controversy on an online forum concerning “dubious things” behind the block of Facebook in Vietnam. A call through Yahoo Messenger was made to “boycott” local social networks because they were blamed for making Vietnamese users unable to log into Facebook.

Many Facebook users also criticized networks “copy” of Facebook’s famous games.

Online experts noted that Vietnamese social networks are unable to compete with foreign rivals in all aspects. Local networks only focus on the number of members, but the most important aspect is to connect the virtual and real societies to earn money.

Popular categories of social networks:

Ego centric: Social networks of this type focus on individuals. Social activities will go around individuals. Typical examples are MySpace and a Vietnamese version named Viet Space. Mass of Yahoo, Yahoo 360o and Yahoo Pluss also uses this format. The characteristic of this format is that users can make change to the structure and interface of their pages.

Relationship centric: This type concentrates on the relations between individuals and their friends. Outstanding examples are Facebook, Twitter and Mash.

Content centric: This format aims to display content products produced by individuals or groups (articles, photos, audio or video clips, etc). Popular content-centric networks in Vietnam are tamtay, chacha and Mp3 Zing.

PV