Last weekend, a classmate introduced me to a Chinese social network called Xiaonei.com (which literally translates to “on-campus”, though I initially misread the Pinyin). Upon visiting the site, I was struck by the uncanny resemblance—the design, color palette, layout, and functionality were practically identical to Facebook.
I witnessed how Facebook slowly eroded MySpace’s market share through superior design and exclusivity, but I had never seen such a blatant pixel-for-pixel copy before.
Pixel Perfect Plagiarism?
Although Facebook has utilized open-source technologies, its front-end code isn’t simply something you can “download.” While tools exist to scrape a website’s static HTML and CSS, replicating the underlying logic and user experience is a different beast.
The original founders of Xiaonei (students from Tsinghua University) sold the project early on. One can’t help but wonder if this quick exit was a strategy to avoid potential intellectual property litigation. It is somewhat embarrassing to see a major corporation (Oak Pacific Interactive, who acquired Xiaonei) touting a product that is essentially a carbon copy of a Western innovation.
From a technical perspective, while the interface is identical, the stack differs. Xiaonei appears to be built on Java, whereas Facebook famously relies on PHP.
Stagnation in Innovation
Technologically, Xiaonei seems stuck in the Facebook era of 2005-2007. It mirrors the core functionality but lacks the platform evolution that made Facebook a giant:
- No App Platform: Facebook exploded when it introduced the Platform API, allowing third-party developers to build games and tools. Xiaonei is still a walled garden.
- Limited AJAX: While there are traces of AJAX for smoother interactions, it lacks the snappy, seamless feel of Facebook’s modern interface.
- The “Myspace-ification”: Xiaonei introduced custom CSS styling for user profiles. While this might seem like a feature, it often degrades the user experience (reminiscent of MySpace’s chaotic profiles) and puts unnecessary load on servers. Facebook’s “boring” blue-and-white uniformity is actually its strength—it prioritizes content over decoration.
The Bubble Tech Reality
It is disheartening when widely praised CEOs discuss “innovation” while their flagship product is a localized clone. However, this highlights a harsh reality of the tech industry, especially in emerging markets: capital flows to execution, not necessarily originality. If a model works in Silicon Valley, the race is on to be the first to implement it locally.
Update: I was discussing this with Chris, who is currently in India hiring a development team. We agreed that this mirrors the Bebo phenomenon—how websites can sometimes succeed with mediocre or derivative products simply by capturing a specific demographic or market first. In design and engineering, this lack of originality is often unforgivable, but in business, it is unfortunately a viable strategy.
Ultimately, a “rip-off” generally lacks the soul of the original. It copies the what but often misses the why, leading to a product that looks right but feels wrong.
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