17 International Social Media Platforms That Weren't Founded in the U.S.
By pbump@hubspot.com (Pamela Bump)
The app’s post tool also offers more editing features than Instagram, including beautify.
The Explore tab includes categories such as weight loss, manicures, cosmetics, mother-baby, and emotion, showing how RED uses traditionally female-focused topics to create engaging content.
Xiaohongshu allows brands to have their storefronts on the app, which users can access to find out more about the brand and purchase their products.
RED’s focus on a niche female demographic, ecommerce capabilities, and unique content make it a valuable platform for brands looking to reach the Chinese market.
Brands can partner with local influencers to spread awareness, sell products, and engage with the audience.
16.
Whether you’re interested in international marketing, or just want to learn more about how audiences around the world interact with the internet, learning about the top global platforms can be an eye-opening experience.
Below, you’ll explore 17 of the most popular social media platforms around the globe, including TikTok’s origin platform — Douyin.
The 17 Biggest Global Social Media Platforms
1. QZone and QQ
- Owner: Tencent
- Origin: China (Available globally, Chinese language-only)
- Name’s Origin: QZone and QQ were shortened from the original name, OICQ. The O stood for “open” while ICQ is an instant message term that sounds like “I Seek You” when said allowed.
- Reported Users: Over 600 million active users on QZone with 574.4 million monthly users on QQ.
QZone is a social media channel while QQ is a messaging app that links to a QZone account. The two apps serve as an alternative to Facebook in countries like China and South Korea, where the U.S. platform is blocked.
The platform’s story began in 1999 when QQ launched as a desktop messaging site. QZone, a social media site and app, launched in 2005.
In 2019, as mobile-first mindsets grew, Tencent transformed the QQ website into a standalone app. QZone still serves as a social media platform while QQ is now similar to the Facebook Messenger app.
To help you better visualize how people have used QQ and QZone, here’s a quick analogy: When U.S. millennials were children, we raced home from school to message our friends on AIM.
Then, as we reached high school, we ventured onto Facebook, where we could message people, create a profile, and post updates.
Meanwhile, in China, people in my age group might have messaged friends on QQ’s messaging website instead of AIM. Now, QQ users might use its sister app — QZone — for a social media experience that’s comparable to Facebook. Then, to message friends, they use QQ.
On QZone today, users are encouraged to publish posts, videos, or even music. Like Facebook, they can also connect with friends, see a feed of updates, comment, share or react to posts, and update cover or profile photos.
The QQ and QZone are great examples of social brands that gained traction long before platforms owned by U.S. tech firms. QQ and QZone users are so strong in China likely because young audiences adopted its messaging tool and were able to enjoy its full social network later on.
Although Facebook launched 2004, one year before QZone came out, Tencent had already captured the millennial demographic with QQ, figured out how to grow its product competitively with QZone, and continued to add features to pull in Gen Z audiences.
While QZone and QQ seem like Facebook alternatives, their history of growth is fairly parallel. And, as one of the biggest social media platforms …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
