UN Ban Ki-Moon Chats On Social Media; Douban Closes to Break Even; Twitter Comes To China

1. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Fireside Chat On Social Media

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General gave the first ever social platform-based fireside chat in the UN’s history on Facebook, Twitter and, of course, Sina Weibo.

The netizens from all over the world grilled Mr Ban with over 6,000 questions while half of them come from Chinese netizens. When being asked about how come in Africa people keep dying from famine while the whole world produces sufficient food, Ban replied ascribing this to unfair politics regarding the allocation of food resources.

2. Douban Closes To Break Even With Tens Of Millions Revenue Last Year

We reported Douban’s Series C funding yesterday, and according to Yang Bo, its founder and CEO, the social rating site brought in RMB tens of millions in revenue last year by displaying ads on its website, and was close to break even.

As for IPO, Yang said there’s no definite timetable for that yet.

3. Twitter To Release Chinese Version Soon

Twitter is about to release a Chinese version soon, people familiar with the matter said. The popular microblogging service was blocked from China since 2009 and missed a big opportunity. Now that Sina Weibo rules in China, it is rumored to release an international version to compete with Twitter. Is it too late for Twitter to finally tap into Chinese market?