This article is translated from 腾讯微博是另一个Google Buzz吗？
On April 1st, Tencent, one of the biggest Chinese IT company, launched its own twitter service with a close beta test. Meanwhile there is a new version of QQ(the biggest IM in China), there is only one new feature: to allows users to update Tencent twitter in QQ. This is a very powerful move, because all the other Chinese Twitter service so far have no PC client to support an update without web browser. And QQ is the most popular IM software in China, it will be very easy to collect users just like what Google Buzz did.
There are many common points between Tencent Twitter and Google Buzz.
Firstly, they are all tied up with a classic product with a beta version in order to collect users more quickly and easily at the first place. Like Google Buzz follows the contracts in Gmail automatically. Then you may have hundreds of followers at the beginning. And Tencent Twitter is totally supported by QQ, You need a QQ account to login in.
Secondly, Google and Tencent both failed in SNS products. Google has failed with Jaiku and Orkut, which are not successful at all to compete twitter and facebook. Tencent has a former unsuccessful twitter service called Taotao.
Lastly, Google and Tencent both achieved success in products coligation. For example, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Reader are all tied up with Gmail. And most of Tencent products are tied up with QQ, like Qzone(blog service), QQmail, TT web browser, QQ downloader and QQ PInyin. Some of they are highly copied from their competitors. Therefore there is a Chinese doggerel saying: Tencent is always copying, but never charged(一直在模仿，从未被起诉).
However, is Google Buzz successful? Hardly to say that. Google Buzz contains a chaotic time line and information flow. It’s harder to find an useful information than twitter. And it is a bad choice to put Google Buzz in Gmail. Many people use Gmail to work, they don’t want to be troubled in a mass information flow when they are working. And it is the same problem for Tencent Twitter which is going to be in QQ.
If Tencent Twitter is going to be popular, there will be mass of information flow in QQ, which will cost a lot of memory for PC, slowing down QQ and even the whole system. Then some QQ users may abandon QQ. On the other hand, if Tencent chooses to let users decide whether they want to keep Tencent twiiter in QQ, just like Google did with Google Buzz, then Tencent Twitter will lose a big advantage to its competitors.
What’s more, it is more unsafe to have a twitter service in QQ. As all the Chinese twitter service have to self-censor. It will be more easy for Tencent Twitter users to be monitored for mass negative information about the government, because the information from QQ is not encrypted.
