Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg discreetly tested the company's new app called "Colorful Balloons," a photo-sharing app that is currently under china's Youge Internet Technology. According to The Verge, the application is similar to Facebook's Moments App wherein, friends and families are able to share their personal photos with each other. The application is currently available on China's WeChat application in order to hide anything that implies it's a Facebook brand.
Facebook confirms texting the app
Interestingly, Facebook confirmed that it is not trying to secretly launch the social media app in the Chinese region.
However, its interest in studying the people's interest in sharing photos remains. According to the company in a statement on The Verge, it said: "spending time understanding and learning more about the country in different ways. Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside of China by using our ad platform.”
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg continues to hold meetings with China's government officials. The CEO has been actively hearing the country's grievances against the social media platform following its ban in 2009 alongside its sister company WhatsApp. While Facebook is totally banned in China, WhatsApp, on the other hand, is only partially blocked.
The launching of Colorful Balloons in China
In May this year, "Colorful Balloons" was launched in China under the approval of Facebook according to a source by the NY Times. The Communist Party of China has massively prevented its constituents from viewing several popular websites and applications including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
The successful launching of the "Colorful Balloons" on the other hand subtly allowed Facebook to study the pattern of the country's 700 million internet users' social media usage.
Facebook's intent to return and relaunch in the Chinese region is not a secret especially to the government of China. The news of "Colorful Balloons" being launched has not indicated any type of uprising in the regions' technology division as well.
The NY Times first revealed the testing of the app and called the action "unprecedented" given how China has been strict about rules involving social media applications.
The easy access to Facebook using its app "Colorful Balloons" is made possible by none other than one of China's separate local companies. The app runs by its own name has no indication that it is a Facebook product or the similar.
