How do Westerners perceive social media in China and other Eastern cultures? Based on media reports, most opinions evolve around negative or political activities. But according to Sam Flemming of CIC, Westerners can actually learn a lot from China’s social practices.

First of all, social media has been prominent in China since the 1990’s. Although Facebook and Twitter receive a lot of negative press in China, social activity is still alive with local social platforms.

While social networks and blogs are dominant social players in China, online message boards called BBS, are also very popular. Flemming says many conversations about brands take place on these BBS sites. He points out that there are approximately 172 million bloggers in China and over 100 million users on local social networking platforms.

As Flemming explains to WebProNews, the Chinese watch the West and adopt and develop ideas. The West, however, does not do this. Flemming calls this a “missed opportunity” on behalf of the West, since many unique ideas could be applied if they would listen. In addition, companies could have a competitive advantage if they watch and learn from China, Japan, and Korea.

“The fact is social media is more developed in the East… now social media marketing or applications of social media, [it] may be there are more advanced or more developed ideas in the states, but there’s a lot that can be learned both ways.”

How do you value social media activities in Eastern cultures such as China?