1.26.2010 – In my last article, I wrote about social networks in Vietnam, and Zing.vn came out as the top contender. Since then, a few people have asked me about social networks available for Vietnamese Americans. I dug deep into the web and found the following. The results are plentiful, but at times underwhelming.
The Roundup
- Viet Circle: Viet Circle is the first entry that shows up when you search “Vietnamese Networks.” It is a custom-built site that resembles MySpace. The network seems active, perhaps due to its ability to sign on some young Vietnamese stars (e.g. Cung Le). Of the sites I’ve found, Viet Circle seems most active and closely resembles the social networks most Americans know. However, the site seems dated and is encumbered by advertisements.
- Cafe 75: Cafe 75 is second up on the search results. It is a dated site with little interaction. When you sign on, the site indicates how many users are online. I have yet to see a member online. I’m not a doctor, but my prognosis is Cafe 75 is DOA (I’m lame, I know.)
- Vietnamese Social Network: Or vietmee.com, looks like a technically well- engineered site, and it is. That is because it’s based off WordPress MU, a popular blogging platform (like Blogger or Tumblr). It fact, vietmee.com carries the default theme, which is a big negative. At the end of the day, with only 56 members, it doesn’t qualify as a real social network.
- Vietopia: Vietopia.com is by far the most visually pleasing of the bunch. The site is modern, beautiful, and seemingly teeming with content. However, although it brands itself as a social network, Vietopia is more of a blog. In fact, it is based off the same WordPress platform as Vietmee.com. But of the websites discussed, I would most likely visit Vietopia again because of its content.
- VietsToday, Viet Social Network, and Luyen Chuong: I have decided to lump these three together because they are very similar. They are build on the Vbulletin platform which is traditionally used for forums. Many of you old-timers know that forums are one of the earliest forms of social networks, where users post discussions in threads of topics. This format, of course, is very old and is not used in modern networks. Because of its traditional interface and focus on long texts, these networks do not appeal to the young, modern Facebook generation.
Conclusion
Of the networks I’ve found, only two came out to be a true social network by today’s definitions: Viet Circle and Vietmee.com. The rest are better categorized as community blogs or forums. Of the bunch, Viet Circle offers the most familiar social networking experience. Yet, the site tries to do too much (includes restaurant reviews, event planning), runs an outdated model (think MySpace), and is not actively developed.
The Vietnamese expat community still lacks a true network. With over 3 million people spread across 30 countries, there is a definite need for a network that can bring us together. I have reasons to believe that kind of network will be coming very soon (*wink).
Did I miss any big ones? What would you like to see in a Vietnamese social network? Let us know!
Disclosure: I am a principal member of the OneVietnam Network team, a social venture that is in the process of building an online network for Vietnamese expatriates. More about us at www.onevietnam.org.
Gallery
Don't know if http://www.coolviet.com counts. There are a lot of English-speaking Vietnamese on there.
you forget the most popular one, guess what it is, we already know it, that is Facebook (yes, Facebook!)+ in Vietnam, everyone uses Facebook – http://lite.facebook.com (please note that the web address people use is http://lite.facebook.com and not http://www.facebook.com – because http://www.facebook.com is quite "difficult to access" in Vietnam)+ Zing.vn – http://me.zing.vn – is a failed social network product, people do not use that, they boast a million accounts because they simple convert all the game accounts to Zing Me accounts (yes, people use Zing to play games – a majority of Internet users do play games, and Zing/VinaGame is super popular for gamers – but they just do not use it for social network)+ in Vietnam, there are tens or even hundreds of efforts on-going to build social networks *by Vietnamese* and *for Vietnamese*, but unlike similar efforts by Chinese people for China (which work well there), those efforts in Vietnam do not work – YuMe.vn, Zing Me, cyworld.vn, tamtay.vn, cyvee.com, Yahoo! 360plus (VN), Friendster (VN),… all do not work, the reasons are actually not obvious and people are still figuring out why things are that "strange" – on the other hand, "forums" still work well for Vietnamese (seems like Vietnamese like "forums")+ also in Vietnam is also different with other countries (including Asian ones), while in other countries there can be *multiple* popular networks at the same time (like Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, Twitter,…) – in Vietnam, there is only solution, Facebook – http://lite.facebook.com (just like before, there is only one solution, Yahoo! 360, but it is already gone) => actually, many people are still figuring out why things are "very strange" like that, and still they have not been able to come up with the answer yet… => the only way which can make Vietnamese people go out of Facebook and join "your" social network is when Facebook is *totally blocked* (like in China), and I'm sure we all do not want that happen…+ I'm not sure about Vietnamese Americans, but I believe that, especially for young people, the social network they *use* is still Facebook and not the ones above (the word "use" means they actively participate, not just having the accont)+ and for professional purposes, I'm sure the one people use will definitely be LinkedIn…=> after all, you must focus on what the *users* want…yes, it's always "proud" to have a social network that is "by Vietnamese, of Vietnamese, for Vietnamese" but after all, how to "compete" with Facebook and LinkedIn, and should we "compete" with Facebook and LinkedIn at all?[all above is just my "2 cent" opinion – with disclaimer of liability]
Has anyone heard secretary Clinton's speech regarding the google situation in China? She called out Vietnam for interference with social networking sites.
yup. have you read china's response?
Dear James Bao,
My name is Nathalie Pham, my organization has begun a US?Vietnamese Social Network. My research on Vietnamese and Asian social networks tell me that in a global Vietnamese market there is actually 86 million worldwide and 1.64 (2009) in the North American Content. On average there are over 55,000 users a day per popular Vietnamese websites and due to the search indexing of Google and Yahoo many websites are lost in the internet world.
Social Networks focus should be
1. Understand the group they are reaching
2. Encourage “social” activities not just articles to read
3. Understanding that marketing is not just adding a banner ad but understand that value of the data capturing and analytic components.
Prediction : 2050 Asian Buying Power
natpham@vietasiamedia.com
Thank you
Interesting article for me as I just launched my new site, http://bestofviet.com, for Vietnamese American business reviews! Hopefully in the near future we can have our very own social networking site. But for now FB and Tweeter works very well in bringing us (Vietnamese community) together. I use them for business and kids’ birthday invitation.
Although http://bestofviet.com is not a true social networking site, it is an attempt to bring out the best of Vietnamese businesses in America, through customers reviews and networking.
Yes, a “true” Vietnamese social network will emerge but that will also require lots and lots of work, efforts, passions, talents, time and $$$! However, the above mentioned sites in the article do serve as a starting point.