With the accelerated Balkanisation of the internet, no better a time to dive deep into life on the internet in China. We'll take a look at the behaviours and habits born of the latest technological advances in China, from love to learning, finance to food, music to medicine and sharing to shopping.
We are honoured to be interviewing Joey Liu, Lead Author of the "China Internet Report 2020 by SCMP Research" and Senior Manager, Strategy & Special Projects at the South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.
One of my reasons for launching the Web Wednesday community back in 2006 was to have an untethered testing ground for emerging digital technologies. A space where we could try out the latest "shiny objects" at a live event with real people in unpredictable environments.
We started with audio podcasts on Odeo which the founders then closed and went on to launch Twitter!
We pointed our first generation smart phones at Geoffrey the Giraffe (guy in a rubber suit) hoping to download the latest Java game over Bluetooth. ToysRUs went out of business and, sadly, put Geoff down!
We've blogged on Blogger, tweeted on Twitter, signalled on Sina and grinned on 'Gram.
We've shaken our phones in unison to speed-connect over WeChat. We've scanned each other's profiles on LinkedIn.
Our interviews were now originally posted on Vimeo and YouTube and are now also on LinkedIn and IGTV. We've even live-streamed onto Facebook (with Mevo).
And today, we go live with our very own chatbot on WhatsApp! Come try us out.
You can either click on this link or scan the QR code below to connect with our official WhatsApp Business account. Once hooked up, our chatbot will guide you how to redeem and post offers on the 852 Reboot Hong Kong website. You can also watch all our latest interviews of local entrepreneurs (recorded on my smart phone, at different spots around town).
Henry Oh arrived in Hong Kong in 2005 to write a book about the Hong Kong underworld, he soon found a job via the Web Wednesday networking community and started his career in mobile gaming as Head of Business Development for Hello Kitty!
Fifteen years on, Henry is back in San Francisco, as VP of Operations & Partnerships for Tenjin.io, where he now helps mobile game developers answer the question, "Is my ad campaign ROI positive?" with data insights on downloads and in-game activities.
We managed to cover many topics:
Comparing the speed of reaction to Covid-19 by tech companies in China and the US, looking at the different outcomes between centralised and decentralised models
How San Francisco successfully implemented "Shelter in Place" and why the culture of science and data helped the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay Area to accept the new status quo
The ongoing erosion of civil liberties, with the impact of tracking and surveillance tech on privacy
How the business models of US tech giants, like Facebook and Google, are pushing them to be more proactive about content moderation
The pressure on entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to reduce their burn, conserve cash and lay people off
How the big players in the mobile gaming world are using their stash of cash for a "land grab" and to increase brand awareness
How hyper-casual games rule the charts, to the ongoing surprise of the game design community (download Tenjin's "2020 Hyper-casual Benchmark Report")
How the economic blow from the virus is further enhancing the digital divide and pushing people to adopt or die
Why the US responds slower but more creatively and, perhaps, with a more significant outcome in the long term
The role of “3D Printer Maker Communities” using Reddit to coordinate the production of emergency supplies
You can also find Henry on Twitter (@sfmoca) and learn more about Tenjin's "native or 3rd party campaign attribution. Ad revenue & IAP ROI and cost aggregation" at www.tenjin.io
Interviewed by Napoleon Biggs, Digital Entrepreneur at Web Wednesday Ventures
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