With today’s reports about potential massive layoffs at MySpace, it bears noting the different characteristics that have driven the site globally. For example, while they may share the same name, MySpace UK and US are quite different, according to Simon Daglish in this video below. Simon runs MySpace UK. In the UK, MySpace primarily works

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I ran into Dr Gang Lu of Mobinode last week at the Social Media World Forum where he shared two interesting graphs published in June by DCCI. The first shows that the dominant activity online in China is now Social Media (apparently at the expense of people reading news, from the sharply declining yellow line.)

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Last week at the Social Media World Forum in Singapore, Philip Lim of Agence France-Presse did a series of interviews, including one with me, about Social Media in Asia. The original AFP article, picked up by the Jakarta Globe, Channel News Asia, Yahoo News Asia and others, included a number of stats and other interesting

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I have long been obsessed with differences between online cultures, so was very interested by a study from Nielsen that aims to quantify negativity of online reviewers across Asia. Their conclusion, that Chinese are more negative than anyone else in Asia, will not surprise anyone familiar with Chinese social media. Comments written by Chinese online

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While attending the World Economic Forum in Tianjin last week, I took part many great discussions, including several about online video and Social Media in China. Among others, I spoke with the founder of Tudou, Gary Wang, and the founder of YouKu, Victor Koo. Although often described as “YouTube copycats in China”, both Wang and

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Nielsen recently released their latest look at the Internet in Australia. Interestingly, Australian online engagement peaks on Mondays and the peak time (all days) is 5pm. While the trough of engagement on Saturdays reflects my personal Internet habits, I was surprised by the peak on Monday. Perhaps people catching up on email (and gossip from

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Here’s a recent infographic pulled together by our team on Japanese Social Media Equivalents. Suggested additions (or corrections) are most welcome! See also: Infographic on Chinese Social Media Equivalents,

The World Association of Newspapers has launched a set of digital media awards for Asian publishers that includes a category for Social Media. Deadline is September 30. To enter, you must be a publisher in the Asia Pacific or Middle East. Sorry, looks like they don’t accept any independent bloggers.

Naspers and DST are not household names, but they have long fascinated me for their huge level of ownership and influence over Social Media globally. If the global evolution of Social Media interests you, watch these companies. They have a track record of being smart, fast and highly intelligent investors. Their strategy: Arbitrage Internet experience

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In China, if you spend US$184 on your credit card you can now get a virtual dragon. For US$147, you get a virtual horse. In what may be the first of its kind, a social network has linked up with a bank’s loyalty program: Chinese social network Kaixin001.com and China Merchants Bank this week announced

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