Facebook Debates its China Conundrum- Click here http://bit.ly/ijOHPl for full article

Facebook Debates its China Conundrum- Click here http://bit.ly/ijOHPl for full article

The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want is a basic human desire. It is component of the psyche that cannot be suppressed, hidden or destroyed. Liberty and oxygen allow a person to survive.

For Facebook, the social networking mega-site, spreading liberty is not just a philosophy, it’s a business tactic.

A minor glitch

The billion dollar company has hit a roadblock in its quest to reach every computer user in the world: the People’s Republic of China. Currently, Facebook is banned in the eastern Asian country. China, with its 1.3 billion citizens, has slowed Facebook’s explosive growth by banning the friend-and-family sharing website. Along with Twitter and YouTube, Facebook finds itself shut out by a system that seems more machine than human.

The cause of the ban is simple: Facebook wants China because China has a lot of people. China doesn’t want Facebook because Facebook has a lot of freedom.

The cost of money

Like Google, Facebook has a choice to make. Do they hold strong to their Western beliefs in democracy and freedom by not bending to China’s demands for control and limited ability? Or do they compromise with their ideas and the functionality of their product in order to tap an enormous market?

The question exists at the intersection between commerce and humanity.

Taking business to China is not like taking it to another city, or even another country. As the world’s most populous nation and with one of the fastest growing economies on the planet, China’s potential for money making is beyond belief. But with great revenue comes great challenges.

If Facebook wants to operate in China, it will have to fall in line with all the other pieces of art and technology. The censor machine that is China’s government would dissect, scrutinize and tear apart Facebook until it no longer looked like Facebook. Facebook wants to open countries up. China wants to tighten even more.

No room left

Facebook is feeling the effects of a technology-based world. Everything is getting smaller. Communicating with someone in a different country is easier than knocking on a neighbor’s door. Despite its innovations and visionary leadership, Facebook is running out of people to sign up. American and Europe, two of the strongholds of business, have already been marketed and converted.

Growth is not sustainable forever. Facebook acquired half a billion users like they were selling cookies. With their first domestic decrease this year, Facebook is acknowledging the scary idea of business mortality. If your ability to make a profit depends on continuously recruiting new users, what will you do when there are no more users left?

Facebook's China conundrum comes down to the oldest and most fundamental business question of all: money or morals?