May 28, 2008
You have received a super-poke from the Prime Minister
Following a hot tip from the New York Times we were able to find Facebook's newest member, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (温家宝). Initially Shanghaiist was excited about the prospect of being friends with 'Grandpa,' but then we realized he had more friends (13,280 supporters as of now) than all of the contributors combined and more supporters than the Shanghaiist fan page. Just leave it to the older generations to make it uncool for everyone else.
The page contains a number of fan photos of Prime Minister being heroic, diplomatic, or just hanging out with his hao pengyou. The choice of profile pics probably doesn't show him at his best though and we like the fan photos much better, particularly this one and this one. From our experience, though, it is only a matter of time before his friends put up an embarrassing picture of the Prime Minister in a baijiu induced frenzy and/or coma, thereby jeopardizing his chances with potential future employers.
So how soon before the other party members join the party? Scrabulous with President Hu, find out where in the world Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has been, or let Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng know how he's doing by leaving a comment on his wall. Expect to know which Olympic Friendly (福娃) you most resemble and soon! The possibilities are really endless. In fact, we think we're going to go ahead and add the Prime Minister after all, it's a win-Wen situation.
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The picture is actually courtesy of Wee Ling Soh. She claims to not have Facebook, but this is strong evidence to the contrary.
This photo adds lying to her list of offenses (which previously included curry hording and taking indecent pictures of other people's feet).
once it spreads around the western facebook crowd, I imagine it'll either be shut down or facebook will get blocked. Already some "Free Tibet" posts on there. Should we be taking wagers on how long it'll last?
Maybe the page was created by a westerner! Then the Chinese can do nothing about it being vandalized. Unless Mr. Zuckerberg gets a visit by the CIA or something suggesting him to take it down. :)
Yes, there are already detractors.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33088052344
At first glance, this seems like an ideal way to bring the PM to the people and make him look hip. When you really think about it, it is a really stupid idea. This is because Facebook has so many little things built into it that allows users to to be critical. "Kick" the PM, "headbut" him, tag unflattering photos of him, write nasty things on his wall, etc.
The PM could get around most of this by not accepting any Facebook special functions. But that would make his Facebook profile a bit too out of touch with the Facebook crowd. What is the point of having a Facebook profile if you can't actively participate with the Facebook community, but how can a PM, even one who is obviously not the active contributor, professionally contribute?
The only way I can conceive this is if this is a prank. In that case, someone is impersonating the PM, which is undoubtedly against Facebook's rules. I can't go online and say I am Michael Jackson (not that I would want to) if I am not Michael Jackson.
taihanasie -
Wen Jiaobao isn't using the standard Facebook you and I are so there are much fewer risks involvded. This is a Facebook Page, where the "owner" controls all the content. They are designed for use by companies, artists, products and, yes, politicians. They can be set up to be 100% moderated for visitor content.
Another thing about Facebook Pages is that you can view them even if you are not a member of Facebook. You'll notice that you don't actually have the option of becoming the PM's friend, you get to become his FAN or SUPPORTER. Pages are designed to make social networking sites more easily accessible to marketers and to encourage companies to use their marketing dollars through pay per click or pay per impression marketing.
A fairly exhaustive guide to Pages can be downloaded here if you are looking for more information:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=12261944821
So sadly, no superpoking Mr. Wen, but its still a very interesting comment on how the current government, the rise of Web 2.0 and social networking sites like Facebook.