China social networking sites statistics 2009

CNNIC released a report on China social networking sites (SNS) at the end of 2009 and I’m here to share some key findings:
• By the end of 2009, the number of Chinese online social media users is about to reach 124 million.
• Every social media user owns on average 2.78 social media accounts.
• Top 5 social networking sites (SNS): QQ alumni (50%), Renren (37%), Sina Space (36.6%), 51.com (27.1%), and Kaixin001 (26.4%).
• The male to female ratio in SNS users is 52.9:47.1.
• Majority of SNS users are youth (52.6%).
• 17.8% of China SNS users’ monthly income is over RMB 3,000, higher than 13.4% Chinese netizens.
• 47.5 of SNS users’ month income is lower than RMB 1,000, also higher than the percentage of overall Chinese netizens (44.2%).
• 59.1% of Chinese SNS users own college degree and above, 34% higher than over Chinese netizens.
China Social Networking Sites Usage
• Almost 80% SNS users are referred by friends, classmates, or colleagues.
• 75.8% indicate their SNS friends are friends in real life.
• 34.3% SNS users visit social networking sites every day while about 40.2% visit SNS once a week or longer.
• Over half SNS users spend no longer than one hour daily on SNS sites; 26.6% between one to two hours; 12.8% over two hours.
• China SNS users are mostly interested in status and photo album updates from friends.
• Sending messages and uploading photos are the two most popular activities on SNS.
Which Social Networking Site to Choose?
• 63.5% users pick the number of known friends, classmates, and colleagues on a social network as the top reason for choosing that network.
• 32.4% users find it important to get useful information on a social network
• Having lots of interesting topics is important to 21.4% users for choosing that social networking site
• 18.4% find a social networking site attractive if it provides lots of online games
The primary purpose of logging in a social network is entertainment for over 42.4% users being interviewed. 27.4% just log in to play games.

Hiring? Try the crowdsourcing method

There are no easy ways to determine if you’re hiring the right person for a job and, in my opinion, complex approaches to hiring may be still very possible to get the wrong person.

Those who have used regimented hiring methodologies created by behavioral scientists and organizational behavior experts know exactly what I’m talking about. Nothing is better than simply laying down a few basic guidelines, understanding what you’re really looking for, knowing what’s important to you and listening to your gut to maximize your chances of hiring a good and right person.

After learning about the concept of crowdsourcing, I really think it is a effective way. It opens up the employers' eyes to wider resources and make it possible to put the candidates into a more practical and competitive environment. Crowdsourcing promotes creativity and interaction, which is essential for all jobs in a modern society.

The beauty of the application of crowdsourcing in this case is it helps employers see people’s behavior – in this case, how they work in more realistic environment – is strongly indicative of how they will work when they’re your employee. Notice the small stuff like this and you’ll get that gut feel you need to hire the right person.