I am pleased to announce the release of CIC's Q3 white paper, "The Internet is THE Community": IWOM White Paper Series on Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) Development in China. The white paper reviews the rapid growth of China's Internet population and diverse Internet platforms as well as explores the creativity and passion of Chinese netizens and the Internet community. As I mentioned last week, the report will cover four topics. Today, we are releasing Topics One, "The Chinese IWOM Landscape" and Two, "Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics" to coincide with my hosting of a panel at AdTech Shanghai. Topics Three and Four will be released in early December.

To give you a taste of the first topic, "The Chinese IWOM Landscape," check out the Chinese Conversation Prism above. The purpose of the prism, inspired by Jesse Thomas and Brian Solis' Conversation Prism (which in turn was inspired by Robert Scoble's Social Media Starfish, as Robert reminded me when he visited us earlier this month), is to show that, just as in the West, the Chinese Internet Community conversation and sharing is filtered through many types of participation architecture. However, the Chinese landscape is filled largely with local players which have localized the applications and platforms. The rest of the paper reviews some of the main platforms, including BBS, Blogs, SNS, and IM.

For more on the full white paper, you can check out our press release here.

To download Topic One and Topic Two in English or Chinese, see below:

Topic One: The Chinese IWOM Landscape - "The Internet is THE Community" IWOM White Paper series report, 2008 Q3

Topic Two: Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics - "The Internet is THE Community" IWOM White Paper series report, 2008 Q3

2008第三季度中国网络口碑发展系列“网络即社区”主题一：中国网络口碑发展格局概览

2008第三季度中国网络口碑发展系列“网络即社区”主题二：多角度衡量网络社区动态

The day after I come back from 2 weeks in the US where I attended WOMMA and where I had some R&R (kind of) at home in Alabama, I will be moderating a panel on IWOM at this year's ad:tech in Shanghai. I will be jet lagged, but I am sure the panel will keep it lively. I hope to see a lot of people there.

I was on the first IWOM panel for ad:tech China in 2005, and have moderated the panel since 2006. This time, we will be focusing on the "real" aspects of online community and what it all means for brands.

Here are the details:

Tuesday, November 25, 4:45pm - 5:30pm

Internet Word of Mouth in China: Brands Engaging with Real People, Real Talk and Real Community

In this panel, we move beyond the simplistic understanding of IWOM as crisis and fake blogs to see progressive examples of brands engaging the power of real people, real talk and real community. The session will highlight examples of organic community culture and movements that impact and can serve as inspiration for brands. The panelists, which include China digital directors from Nike and Johnson Baby, will highlight case studies of working with and building online community relationships for effective “co-piloting” marketing.

MODERATOR:
Sam Flemming, CEO/Founder, CIC

PANELIST:
Nicolas Zurstrassen, Nike Digital Director

Portia Chen, Marketing Manager, Johnson’s Baby Franchise

Bob Ding, CEO, Nanamimi

Tangos Chan, Internet Analyst, China Web 2.0 Review

I am excited that after much dedication and hard efforts from our intelligence team, CIC will be releasing our Q3 white paper next week: "The Internet is THE community": IWOM white paper Series on Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) Development in China. Essentially it is an overview of the architecture, habits, and culture of Chinese IWOM. Because the topic is pretty expansive, we are breaking it up into four topics:

- Topic One: The Chinese IWOM Landscape
- Topic Two: Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics
- Topic Three: The Diversity of Chinese Net Language
- Topic Four: Reshaping the Relationship between Brands and Consumers

We will be releasing Topic One & Two next Tuesday, November 25th and the following two topics in early December, just in time for CIC's 4th anniversary. Stay tuned for more on the white paper next week.

For more on CIC's white paper series, see here.

I recently discussed the concept of "The Internet is THE community" on my blog. This is a concept we have been using at CIC for years to frame our view of the Internet landscape and its stake holders including, brands, consumers and community owners. The core concept is that the Internet has leveled the playing field between brands and consumers by giving both consumers and brands alike the opportunity to connect in ways which were previously impossible. In our latest issue of IWOM watch, we highlight different examples of how brands can participate in and positively contribute to the community. We also cover an ongoing awards activity which is one of the most interesting artifacts of the Internet community. The awards activity is hosted by Netease, and serves as a sort of Oscars for community participation. See below to read more about the top winners and other examples of how netizens are contributing to the community.

Case Study

Awards ceremony recognizes contribution to Internet community
网络劳模——我们“顶”！

Summary

Last April, Netease launched an online competition soliciting votes for "Model Netizens" or netizens who have contributed the most value to the Internet community. Currently, eighteen candidates have been nominated by netizens from all over the country. Subtitle Gangs, a group of individuals who collaborate online to provide subtitles for foreign movies/TV series, such as Prison Break, within 24 hours of each show's airing in the US, was ranked in the top 2. The Red Heart China grassroots campaign was also ranked in the top two for its contribution to the Internet community following the tragic earthquake in Sichuan. The campaign created "I+red heart+China" icons for online communication tools like MSN, avatars and QQ, which allowed netizens to express their support for China and the earthquake victims.

Other top awards nominees include the role of the BBS Administrator and the Human Flesh Search Engine.

Leading e fluencers and netizens have outlined the three characteristics that make a group, campaign or activity a "model netizens." The characteristics include:
1. Contributing value to the community
2. Sharing with others
3. Contributing something free of charge

CIC View

By using the Internet as a platform, "model netizens" are able to achieve things that no other institution is able to achieve. Netizens are passionate and proactive by nature, and are willing to join together in support of a greater cause. The Subtitle Gangs and Red Heart grassroots campaign are good examples of this. Brands can consider how to tap into the passion, collective wisdom and collaborative spirit of "the Internet is THE community."

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full IWOM watch report:

For related articles, please see below:

A reflection on our IWOM thinking during the recent 2 months

How IWOM is Redefining the Relationship between Brands and Consumers

IWOM Watch July 16-31: Plastic bags banned, so BBS communities create their own "green" bags

IWOM Watch half year review: January - June, 2008

I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Scoble last week. For those of you who aren't familiar with his work, Robert Scoble is a tech and social media evangelist and uber-content creater who previously worked for Microsoft and is now best known for his blog Scobleizer. He also co-authored the book Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel.

Robert visited our office last week as part his brief visit to Shanghai during which he has met with other companies such as 88 Brands and Tudou. Robert was brought over to China by the China 2.0 tour organized by The China Business Network, Web2Asia and CNReviews and sponsored by Edelman Digital. The purpose of the tour was to give visionary business, technology and media leaders, such as Robert, deeper insight into companies in China involved in social media, clean technology, gaming, and wireless.

Here is a link to the interview from last week on Scobleizer TV.