RenRen, a Chinese social network, just had a very successful IPO that raised $743 million for the company on shares priced at $14 (the high end of what many analysts anticipated). Currently, the stock is trading at $16.76 per share, giving the company a valuation of $6.5 billion on revenue of $67.5 million in 2010 – up 64% from 2009 revenues.

There’s certainly value in the network, but we have to go against the many media outlets who’ve promoted RenRen as “the Chinese Facebook.” It’s not.

Fortune notes some of RenRen’s similarities to Facebook: a social network that started by targeting college students before expanding to everyone, members using their real identities to connect with people they know, a platform for app developers, popular social games, a Connect system with partner websites. There are definitely a lot of similarities, but it’s the differences that account for why RenRen =/= Facebook.

1. Facebook is a big deal outside of the US, RenRen is only big in China

And according to their mission statement

“we aim to define social networking experience and to revolutionize the way that people in China connect, communicate, entertain and shop”

(emphasis, ours) they have no ambitions to change that. China is obviously a good market to be number one in, but so is the US. If Facebook had only focused on growth in the US, they wouldn’t be anywhere near where they are today. Facebook is Facebook because they’re the number one social network in the UK, in France, in Germany, in Canada and many more countries. Sure, there are plenty of countries where Facebook isn’t the top social network – notably Brazil, South Korea and Japan.

But as lucrative as the Chinese market is – and it’s certainly lucrative, being number one in one country just doesn’t equal being number one in 20 (sizable) countries.

2. When it comes to active users, there’s not a clear leader in China

RenRen claims 117 million registered users, but of that only 31 million are active. Percentage wise, that’s slightly more than 1/4th of registered users. No social network is immune to abandoned accounts, but worldwide Facebook claims more than 500 million active users, with 50% logging in daily. At an advertising event in February of this year, Facebook’s head of US Agency Relations broke out some country specific numbers. In the US (Facebook’s home country), there are 149 million active American users, 70% of whom log on daily. {TechCrunch}

Since Facebook doesn’t release registered user numbers (at over 500 million active users, it’s kind of  unnecessary) there’s no definitive figure to compare that with, but Google’s ad planning tool estimates put the number of absolute unique US users to Facebook in March 2011 at 190 million. If we assume all of those users have a Facebook account, that would mean almost 80% of Facebook’s US users are active, and 55% of their total registered user base – not just those who are active – visit the site every day.

RenRen’s active user numbers aren’t close. Add to that, even though analysts say competitors like 51.com are declining, they still maintain an equal or higher number of active Chinese internet users. {SAI/BusinessInsider} So RenRen isn’t exactly losing the fight when it comes to Chinese social networks, but there’s a way to go before they’re declared the winner.

3. Facebook is an internet presence outside Facebook

For a while, some people saw Facebook as the new AOL: a walled garden service that would eventually crash as people began to decentralize and move to sites on the open web. Then Facebook released widgets that allowed for the easy addition of Facebook social features to almost any site on the open web. Almost overnight, it made Facebook a force beyond Facebook.

The ‘Like’ button is officially a year old as of April 21st, and 10,000 sites are using it. RenRen Connect, which launched in October 2009, has 600 partner sites.

It’s not an apples to apples comparison, but probably one of the clearer examples of why our first two points matter.

4. User growth is beginning to plateau

RenRen is still growing, but percentage wise, user and revenue growth is slowing. {BusinessInsider} Facebook’s overall percentage growth may not be as rapid as it was in the past few years, but that’s because it’s pretty hard to keep up 100% year over year growth in every market when you have 500 million active users.

5. There is no RenRen ecosystem

Part of the reason Facebook has been able to raise so much money at eye-popping valuations is the fact that it’s an ecosystem that has the power to not only create revenue for itself, but cottage industries as well. Sure, Facebook owes some of its popularity to companies like Zynga, who create games and apps that keep people on the site; but Zynga also owes a good part of its multi-million dollar value to Facebook. Then there are companies like NorthSocial and BuddyMedia, who provide brands and companies with tools that help them manage their presence on the site.

Even Twitter, who still hasn’t completely figured out how to capitalize on the value it’s creating, has managed to create an ecosystem that other companies can be built on.

While Chinese game developers have had hits, RenRen just isn’t in a position yet to create industries specifically around RenRen.

While it’s highly unlikely that RenRen will ever equal the success of Facebook, it doesn’t have to to be successful. As of April 2010, ComScore estimates that 38% of Chinese internet users visit social networking sites, compared to 81% of US internet users. That means there’s still plenty of room for growth in users and revenue to satisfy investors. Add to that the fact that it’s notoriously difficult for Western consumer tech companies to succeed in China without partnerships, and RenRen certainly has a chance at becoming a significant Chinese internet company. Just don’t compare it to Facebook.

Twitter, the one social network that most people love to make fun of before they join it, has always had a problem explaining exactly why people would want to tweet.  There’s always the allure of finding out what others are saying on the site easily, but not everyone feels the need or actually wants to tweet themselves.  Twitter has finally launched a way to simply follow users without having to sign-up.

The service is called “Fast Follow,” and it lets anyone follow any Twitter user by simply sending a text message to 40404 reading “follow [username].”  You’ll then get that user’s tweets sent right to your cell phone, no signup required.  Twitter is encouraging people to use it to follow brand names they see in everyday life, though its likely Fast Follow would also be used for following celebrities or other public figures. {Mashable}

This is actually a smart move that could potentially cut down on the number of passive Twitter users, who join and maybe tweet once or twice, but use the service to keep up with what people are saying. As it stands, 73% of accounts have less than 10 tweets. {CNN Money}

Or, perhaps it could serve as a way for pre-teen girls to follow every move Justin Bieber makes without having to actually use the service themselves.  It would probably get a bit unwieldy to use Fast Follow with a lot of users, but Twitter does allow users to stop following tweets from particular people at any time by sending “off [username].” {Twitter}

It might not do much for getting more people to tweet, but the option to respond is always there. If nothing else, Twitter has become more popular than feed reader services, and easier for more people to use. Next generation RSS service may not have been Twitter’s goal, but it’s not a bad end result.

What's happening? For World Cup players, not much that they can share.

But if you’re hoping to get a first hand tweet or update from anyone directly on the pitch, you may be out of luck.

In addition to sex and alcohol, social networking now joins the list of banned activities for players on the Spanish, Brazilian, Mexican, Dutch, German, Argentine, Chilean and English teams. {Mashable} Brazil and Argentina players are allowed to have sex. Though in the case of the Argentina squad, coach Diego Maradona (himself, a former World Cup winner as a player for the national team) has restricted it to wives or girlfriends, and only without alcohol.

So how are those bans working out? Well, the South Africa vs. Mexico match ended in a draw as did today’s USA vs. England match. Argentina pulled out a win over Nigeria, but for the moment, that’s only a one out of three success rate. We’ll have to wait to see how Spain, Brazil, Holland and Germany fare, but so far banning online communication may have prevented embarrassing gaffes, but it doesn’t seem to have given the teams any advantages.

The new military badges of honor - perhaps one for Foursquare will be next.

Young military intelligence officers and analysts are finding that their social networking experience and ability to switch tasks efficiently are coveted by United States military corps. Each analyst sits in front of a bank of four computer monitors with dozens of “chat” windows open at a time as well as drone feeds. Large screens around the room also present feeds from remotely controlled, unmanned planes (drones).  The idea is for analysts to stay in constant contact with intelligence officers in the field overseas as well as keep an eye upon drone feeds. {New York Times}

This setup becomes quite useful when forces are moving along insurgent roads in Afghanistan or other hostile territory. If an analyst spots a suspicious object by the side of the road, supervisors verify the nature of the object. If a possible roadside bomb is confirmed, analysts can immediately chat with intelligence officers overseas, who can radio the convoy and prevent unnecessary casualties.

Analysts can also help to identify civilians in the area of combat, preventing civilian casualties which have been a point of contention between the military and Afghan leaders.

There’s one more distinctive thing that these socially savvy analysts can offer soldiers overseas: contact with the outside world. Some conversations spark friendships that continue even once a soldier’s tour is over.

To make it easier for addicted tweeters to keep their followers up to date with every step, Rambler shoes are designed to do the work for you. {The Gloss}

The sneaker is built with sensor technology designed to sync with your bluetooth to log each step you take and subsequently post those steps as “taps” on your twitter page for all of your followers to see. {Glamour} The shoes may be technologically advanced, but are we alone in thinking that despite any technology advantage, the shoes are just plain ugly?

We understand that people like to tweet, but every step? We’re not sure if this is the grand invention people had in mind when they rhapsodize about the possibilities of fashion and technology. Twitter is a fun way to share with others, but do people really need to know when and how long you’re walking or at rest? Some messages are better left at 0 characters.

So far, Buzz has its proponents – according to one TechCrunch headline “If Google Wave Is The Future, Google Buzz is the Present” – as well as its detractors – according to Microsoft, a completely unbiased source of course, it’s just “another social network.”

Image of Google Buzz from TechCrunch

But what’s the real answer? We all know that Google’s past endeavors into social have been, well, less than stellar (Orkut, OpenSocial, even – if you want to count it – the enigmatic Wave) and that, when it comes down to it, Facebook stubbornly reigns supreme . The question is: will the average user be drawn to Buzz (like bees to honey?) or just ignore it as a dull, unnecessary drone?

As far as we’re concerned, Buzz has two great things going for it, but it also has two major hurdles it will have to overcome if it’s serious about being Google’s piece of the social media pie.

THE GOOD

1. It’s Convenient

Frankly, one of the best things about Buzz is that it’s already there, sitting in your inbox, completely integrated into your Gmail, and calling out to you – “Try me! Don’t you want to see what I can do? Aren’t I exciting and novel?” Chances are that if you use Gmail, you’re going to try Buzz, and that you’re going to keep using it.  After all, it aggregates your Twitter feed, your Google Reader, Flickr, Picasa – making it a one-stop-shop for your social media needs.

2. It’s Smart

Buzz learns from you the more you use it. While you can control who you follow, it automatically suggests those you email and chat with the most. Plus, as you tell it what you “like” (or “unlike” as the case may be), it will tailor the content you receive so it’s both interesting and relevant to your location (it’s also got a nifty little Map function to pin point where you are as you post).

THE BAD

1. It Ain’t Your Facebook Friend:

You know who isn’t on the Buzz band-wagon? Facebook. Is it just us, or does the lack of data from Facebook, the world’s most used social networking Site, on Buzz, a service that supposedly aggregates all the social media you use on a daily basis, completely defeat it’s purpose for the majority of users? If you have to check your Facebook and your Buzz – why check your Buzz at all?

2. It’s A One-Way Tweet:

Another big no-no for us? You can post your Tweets on Buzz, but you can’t use Buzz to post your Tweets on Twitter. Again, that’s the kind of road-block that will keep people from investing in Buzz as a viable alternative to the Sites they already use.

The Bottom-Line?

Buzz has the potential to blow up – but only if it can work out these serious kinks.

Read More {BBC}

Read More {GeekSugar}

Read More {TechCrunch}