VietNamNet Bridge – ‘Better a live coward than a dead hero’ is
the principle followed by Vietnamese social networks now. They understand well
that in order to exist, they should get out of the giant Facebook’s way.
Focusing on their advantageous
fields, such as entertainment or games (Zing Me) or online education (Go.vn),
and launching new apps for mobile phones such as messaging via Internet or app
stores are the ways Vietnamese social networks are following in order to exist
in a market, where there is the giant Facebook.
When domestic social networks outstrip Facebook
In late September 2009, Zing Me,
a Vietnamese social network stated that it has made a big leap to become the
most popular social network in Vietnam with 911,000 users, higher than Facebook
with 900,000 users.
Since then, though having not
made comments about the ranking or made any comparison with Facebook, VNG,
which runs Zing Me, has been repeatedly affirming that Zing Me is the No. 1
social network in Vietnam.
However, a report of Com Score
released in September 12, 2012, which counted the number of visitors to
Facebook and Zing Me since January 2011, showed that Facebook was once the No.
1 in December 2011.
The statistics released by
WeAreSocial on Vietnam’s Internet market also pointed out that by October 2012,
with 8.5 million members, Facebook had left Zing Me (8.2 million members) behind,
becoming the social network with the highest users in Vietnam.
The figures showed the rapid
growth of Facebook thanks to the strong development of mobile devices and the
young users.
WeAreSocial also pointed out that
Vietnam has emerged as the fastest growing market of Facebook, which witnessed
the growth rate of 146 percent over the last six months. Especially, the number
of Facebook users increased by 500,000 just within the last two weeks, which
means that Facebook has one new user after every three seconds.
In May 2010, at the Goonline.vn
social network launching ceremony (now Go.vn), General Director of VTC Nguyen
Lam Thanh, who then was the Assistant to the General Director, stated that VTC
strived to have five million regular members after the first year of operation.
He said that the project would be
considered a failure if the users of Goonline.vn cannot exceed that of Facebook
in Vietnam after six months of operation.
However, it is really difficult
for Facebook to implement the plan.
Focusing on local contents, shifting to services for mobile devices
An Internet expert said that it
would be not a surprise if Facebook outstrips Vietnamese social network,
because Facebook is a giant. He also said that in order to exist and develop,
domestic networks should not confront the giant, but should focus on their
local values and become the No. 1 in some niche markets.
Vuong Quang Khai, Deputy General
Director of VNG, said the company would gather its strength on developing
entertainment services and games – its advantageous fields.
Besides, Khai said VNG is also
considering developing new products in the future, especially the ones for
mobile devices.
On August 8, 2012, VNG launched
Zalo, an app which allows to satisfy the demand for chatting and messaging on
mobile phones, the app which has not been satisfied well by Facebook.
Especially, VNG is planning to develop Zing Me app store following the model of
App Store or Google Play.
Phan Anh Tuan, Deputy General
Director of VTC Online, said that Go.vn would continue developing the services
in online education – the field in which Go.vn is leading.
Tuan has also affirmed that Go.vn
would join forces with VTC Mobile to develop the services on mobile devices.
Buu Dien
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