MySpace Headed To China?

NewsCorp Chief Rupert Murdoch has sent his wife to China to facilitate opening the Chinese version of the social networking megasite MySpace.com.

by Kristina Knight

Internet groups Google and Yahoo have tried to enter the Chinese market, but met up with political obstacles. Murdoch says sending wife Wendy Deng could facilitate the transition because she “understands the language”.

In the Financial Times, Mr. Murdoch is quoted as saying, “We have to make MySpace a very Chinese site.”

If MySpace is cleared to open in China, Murdoch says there will likely be local partners, possibly up to 50 percent. The local influence would ensure the content from the social sites was appropriate for Chinese users. The local partners would also deal with any complaints about the sites.

Each week, MySpace is adding more than one million new users wanting to exchange information, pictures and video. They have already opened in the United Kingdom and are already planning another European expansion. The biggest obstacle for the Chinese operation will likely be that the Chinese government restricts exchanging information freely.

With more than 100 million registered users already on MySpace, adding more European users and the potential of millions more users from China will test the company. Having enough servers to cope with the millions of users and increases in traffic is a huge challenge.