There is a Chinese social media platform called WeChat (known as Weixin in China) that is growing rapidly. IT started out as a messaging tool, but has expanded to include features like video calls, photo sharing and status updates as well. It first came to the Internet in 2001, and has been growing rapidly ever since. It already has almost as many members as Twitter (190 Million) and is growing at 25 million users per month. National brands are starting to catch on, and companies like Nike and Starbucks have started using the site as well. It is free to use for all basic users.
The NPO that my group is covering is DomestiPUPS, an organization that focuses on service, therapy, and adoptable dogs. I think that as long as WeChat keeps growing at its current growth rate, it will soon be a big platform in the United States as well as world wide. Once people start using this network it will be a goldmine for new customers, since there won't be many other companies on there. I think this could offer DomestiPUPS an almost unlimited amount of advertising exposure if the platform is picked up in the United States.
With the bigger companies like Nike and Starbucks using this social media outlet, it will be interesting to see how this site expands globally outside of China. For social media sites that are similar to this, I think it takes one spark, that a social media site with better features just may not get. It's interesting the chances of these sites gaining the popularity they do.
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