Twitter, China Censorship & Why Everything Seems to be Made in China

News in the recent weeks involved much of Asia, particularly China. For one, the New York Times ran several features on why every gadget seems to be made in China these days, and how the region has taken middle-class jobs away from the Americans. However, this comes at the price of harsh working conditions, although working in gadget factories in China seems to be the better choice than starve elsewhere.

Meanwhile, another news-worthy issue involving Asia and social media is Twitter’s plan to censor tweets selectively on a per-country basis. Twitter says they are not doing this for censorship, but rather to comply with local laws.

Speaking of Twitter, experts have found out that Generation-Y does not take social media marketing too seriously. Studies say that word of mouth and viral marketing are more likely to sell brands than a social media push.

While tweeting or posting from your smartphone, though, consider that mobile phones are now a big threat to enterprise security, with businesses now being concerned about employees losing their smartphones and tablets to loss or theft, which can compromise data, including customer lists, passwords, and the like.

Meanwhile, if you don’t have a tablet or e-reader yet, consider that tablet and ebook reader ownership in the U.S. has doubled in the 2011 holiday season alone. Don’t wait for next Christmas to get your own tablet. With prices falling these days — and with the Chinese selling a $99 Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablet — you’d be crazy not to get one for yourself.