I could be a bit exaggerate, but Douban ( www.douban.net for English version or www.douban.com for Chinese ), a Shanghai-based one-year startup, is growing like wildfire among elite internet users since it was launched in March, 2005.

 

For great reasons, indeed.

 

How many times did you find it difficult, if not at all impossible, to share your comments with someone who might also enjoy the book you just read, the movie you just watched, or the CD you just listened?  Of course you could talk to your buddies about the books or whatever, but chances are, you don't neccessarily have same level of interest about a certain book, or a band, or a movie even though you're friends.

 

And here comes Douban.

 

The beauty of Douban is that, you do NOT have to know anybody out there first, and just comment on the books/movies/CDs you like, and see who else might like the same books/movies/CDs and what their comments are.  You could choose to join the online group who all like, say,  Eric Clapton or Kenny Rogers, and Bingo, you can start sharing your comments with all the fans there right away.

 

Douban goes beyond just the SIG level social networking.  It also asks you to specify (if you want) your home city, so that you could find Douban fans city by city, so that you could meet other fans in person.

 

And - here is perhaps the most threatening part to Amazon.com AND Craigslist - if you happen to have a used book or a DVD that you wouldn't mind to sell it,  you could put it on sale right under the name, so next time someone is interested in it, s/he could consider buying it from you by simply a few clicks.

 

Last, Douban is a pretty lean and mean organization - users contribute to most of the work/postings ( think of it as a Craigslist ) and Douban just provides nice features and very ease-of-use functions.  What else can you ask for ?

 

Look me up at Douban.com for "Himlaya" please :-).