{"id":639,"date":"2023-10-24T03:58:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T15:13:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T07:13:23","slug":"facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Launches Stealth App To Test China\u2019s Online Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>In an attempt to circumvent China\u2019s great firewall that has banned the use of Facebook, the team at the social media giant has launched an app that mimics its Facebook Moments \u2013 all but without the Facebook branding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In an attempt to circumvent China\u2019s great firewall that&nbsp;has banned the use of Facebook, the team at the social media giant has launched an app that mimics its Facebook Moments \u2013 all but without the Facebook branding.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#Photo_The_Next_Web\" title=\"Photo: The Next Web\">Photo: The Next Web<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#Similiar_To_Facebook_Moment\" title=\"Similiar To Facebook Moment\">Similiar To Facebook Moment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#Learning_more_about_the_Chinese_market\" title=\"Learning more about the Chinese&nbsp;market\">Learning more about the Chinese&nbsp;market<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#Left_the_Facebook_Moments_app_on_iTunes_US_Right_the_Colourful_Balloons_app_on_iTunes_App_Store_China_Photo_wwwbcccom\" title=\"Left: the Facebook Moments app on iTunes US; Right: the Colourful Balloons app on iTunes App Store China Photo: www.bcc.com\">Left: the Facebook Moments app on iTunes US; Right: the Colourful Balloons app on iTunes App Store China Photo: www.bcc.com<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#%E2%80%9CUnprecedented%E2%80%9D_move\" title=\"\u201cUnprecedented\u201d move\">\u201cUnprecedented\u201d move<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-5' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#Chinas_former_internet_czar_Lu_Wei_visited_Facebooks_Silicon_Valley_headquarters_Credit_China_Network_Photo_wwwnytimescom\" title=\"China\u2019s former internet czar, Lu Wei, visited Facebook\u2019s Silicon Valley headquarters.&nbsp; Credit China Network&nbsp; Photo: www.nytimes.com\">China\u2019s former internet czar, Lu Wei, visited Facebook\u2019s Silicon Valley headquarters.&nbsp; Credit China Network&nbsp; Photo: www.nytimes.com<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/facebook-launches-stealth-app-to-test-chinas-online-market\/#Photo_https_mothershipsg\" title=\"Photo: https:\/\/mothership.sg\">Photo: https:\/\/mothership.sg<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_The_Next_Web\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FkheCFYLXRO1f-L99BYiOzzW-rPY?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"640\" height=\"320\" title=\"\">Photo: The Next Web<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Similiar_To_Facebook_Moment\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: rgb(227, 55, 55);\">Similiar To Facebook Moment<\/span><br \/><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>According to the New York Times&nbsp;(NYT), the stealth app, known as Colourful Balloons, was released in May through a separate local company, the Youge Internet Technology, which had no signs of affiliation to Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>Colourful Balloons now boasts a function and feel akin to Facebook Moments, and works very similarly to China\u2019s social messaging platform WeChat\u2019s Moments:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"2.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FsRLdL3R8Y7BR8rNmJpL7d0hQhpW?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"640\" height=\"546\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"3.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FhuPwZn1uVHB7tmqtXgYbqQOwslP?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"640\" height=\"559\" title=\"\">The Colorful Balloons app (left) and Moments (right).&nbsp; Photo: www.nytimes.com<\/p>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Learning_more_about_the_Chinese_market\"><\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(227, 55, 55);\"><strong>Learning more about the Chinese&nbsp;market<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>As pointed out in the NYT report, the low-profile launch of Colourful Balloons gives&nbsp;Facebook a way to see how Chinese users digitally share information with their friends or interact with their favourite social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p>For that purpose, Facebook has tailored the app to a local audience. Colorful Balloons links users through China\u2019s biggest social network, WeChat, unlike the rest of the world, where users of Moments app connect through Facebook.<\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Left_the_Facebook_Moments_app_on_iTunes_US_Right_the_Colourful_Balloons_app_on_iTunes_App_Store_China_Photo_wwwbcccom\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"4.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FvB0bCrnkzStS-M1DXOwApgHYPFF?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"612\" height=\"349\" title=\"\">Left: the Facebook Moments app on iTunes US; Right: the Colourful Balloons app on iTunes App Store China Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcc.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.bcc.com<\/a><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CUnprecedented%E2%80%9D_move\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: rgb(227, 55, 55);\">\u201cUnprecedented\u201d move<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After the full ban of Facebook in 2009 and the partial ban of WhatsApp in July this year, CEO Mark Zuckerburg has been finding ways to reintroduce its social media products to the 700 million active technology users in China.<\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Chinas_former_internet_czar_Lu_Wei_visited_Facebooks_Silicon_Valley_headquarters_Credit_China_Network_Photo_wwwnytimescom\"><\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"5.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fn4Uq0gz2vlYYzyJSUEx6-kOanDO?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"640\" height=\"475\" title=\"\">China\u2019s former internet czar, Lu Wei, visited Facebook\u2019s Silicon Valley headquarters.&nbsp; Credit China Network&nbsp; Photo: www.nytimes.com<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<p>Sources told NYT that the \u201cunprecedented\u201d move reflected the \u201cfrustrations and desperations\u201d of global tech companies hoping to break into the world\u2019s largest online market, even at the expense of accepting China\u2019s internationally different standards of operations.<\/p>\n<p>It is still unclear whether China\u2019s various internet regulators are aware of the app\u2019s existence and business background. If exposed, Facebook could expect new difficulties with the Chinese government and its strict regulations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"afDSAF.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FsAfrXkvM1aVj92K4yFtl_BBeOSU?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"589\" height=\"436.49107142857144\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_https_mothershipsg\"><\/span>Photo: https:\/\/mothership.sg<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<h5><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GIC.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FlXXlKXBxtykYAuKbjvAxKMwIbVH?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"500\" height=\"543.2937181663837\" title=\"\"><br \/><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an attempt to circumvent China\u2019s great firewall that has banned the use of Facebook, the team at the social media giant has launched an app that mimics its Facebook &#8230;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8601,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions\/8601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}