China to block LinkedIn

San Francisco Chronicle February 25, 2011 11:44 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributedLinkedIn Corp. was being blocked in parts of China due to the current revolutions that have popped up against the Governments in the Middle East. LinkedIn only have 1 million users from China out of its 90million users across the world.This confirms that Chinese government is now even less willing to reopen its firewall to social networks Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., which have played key roles in anti-government upheavals spreading through the Middle East.

Facebook and Twitter are already blocked in China, while Google Inc. have also withdrew from the country last year due to the Government demands. The company recently gained 1 million-members in China, but has no offices or employees in the country. China could represent a huge new market for LinkedIn, which separates itself from Facebook and Twitter by positioning itself as the social network that is all business.

These frustrations of the Chinese Governments shows that the social networking sites have governed the world and now they are the most widely used source by the people to express their feeling and to take a stand against them. 

This will provide advantage to the LinkedIn's biggest competitor, Viadeo of France, which has about 35 million members worldwide. Viadeo has acquired Tianji, China's largest professional social network. But being blocked in the China will provide the LinkedIn a boom in Europe and the MiddleEast .