2007-07-21

Geni.com的家族网络和中国化

关键问题不在于中国互联网用户是否喜欢娱乐,而是目前中国无孔不入的商业,让中国网民几乎不敢把他们真实的家族关系放到一个他们不了解的网站上。怎么解开这个心结,才是Geni中国团队面临的最大考验。

 
 

Sent to you by keso via Google Reader:

 
 

via 动点博客 MOBINODE by Gang Lu on Jul 21, 2007

Social Networks (SN)的概念国内常常会把它理解为朋友圈,其实这把SN简单化。现实社会中人与人之间的关系很多,朋友关系是最普通也是最直接的,国内关注这种关系的网站数不胜数;然后是工作关系,虽然也有朋友的概念,但是大家更多是因为工作业务原因走在一起。美国的Linkedin,欧洲的XING,国内的Wealink都属于这种类型;很奇怪的是,人与人之间最重要的亲情关系却好像被互联网忽略了,而Geni.com却是为数不多的这类网站的佼佼者。

Geni很年轻,但是却在5个月时间内登录了全球了5百万用户资料(Geni中国的Reno说现在的用户资料数已经达到6百万,而且55%的来自美国之外的地区)。我想这一成功与其创始团队不无关系,公司在2006年创立,总部设在美国的Los Angeles。其创始人来自PayPal, Yahoo! Groups, Ebay和Tribe的管理者和早期员工。目前公司的投资方为Founders Fund和Charles River Ventures。

在Geni.com上,用户和他们的亲戚可以一起建立维护各自和共同的家族树(Family Trees)。值得提到一点在于,不同于一般的SN,Geni的用户可以为其家族树上的其他成员创建资料,这使得用户登录过世的家族成员以构建完整的家族网络。Geni中的很多功能都是建立在家族网络的基础上,生日提醒,家族日历,成员之间的在线消息以及照片分享,你还可以搜索和你同姓的朋友彼此介绍自己,你会从中找到一个远方亲戚也说不一定。

geniscreenshot

Geni在中国已经开始在组织本地团队。中国的庞大的家庭关系的确为Geni提供了很大的发展市场,但是要想做好中文版的Geni也许比想象中难度要大的多。中国人的亲情观念和西方有很大不同,反映在Geni中也应该不同;在现实社会中中国人投入了很大时间和精力在维护亲戚关系上,但是在互联网这个虚拟世界也许并不一样。中国的互联网用户年轻化程度很大,他们更多关注是娱乐和交友,要把他们吸引过来需要更细致的考虑;他们也许会来建立这个家族树,但是之后的维护呢?从另一个角度来看,家族树需要每一代的人参与才会真正枝繁叶茂,而让我们上一代来登录Geni关注网络中的家族树并不是容易的事。

Geni的中文版还没有上线,Reno说他们希望在进一步完善英文版之后再加大力度建设和推广。非常期待Geni能够真正中国化,也为中国传统的亲情关系加上现代,多维的概念。

Technorati tags: , , ,

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

1 条评论:

  1. It's so nice for me to have found this blog of yours, it's so interesting. I sure hope and wish that you take courage enough to pay me a visit in my PALAVROSSAVRVS REX!, and plus get some surprise. My blog is also so cool! Don't think for a minute that my invitation is spam and I'm a spammer. I'm only searching for a public that may like or love what I write.

    Feel free off course to comment as you wish and remember: don't take it wrong, don't think that this visitation I make is a matter of more audiences for my own blogg. No. It's a matter of making universal, realy universal, all this question of bloggs, all the essential causes that bring us all together by visiting and loving one another.

    You must not feel obliged to come and visit me. An invitation is not an intimation. Also know that if you click on one of my ads I'm promised to earn 8 cents for that: I would feel happy if you did click it, but once again you're totaly free to do what ever you want. I, for instance, choose immediatly to click on one of your ads, in case you have them. To do so or not, that's the whole beauty of it all.

    I think it's to UNITE MANKIND that we became bloggers! Don't see language as an obstacle but as a challenge (though you can use the translater BabelFish at the bottom of my page!) and think for a minute if I and the rest of the world are not expecting something like a broad cumplicity. Remenber that pictures talk also. Open your heart and come along!!!!!

    回复删除