In the age of technology, more and more people connect online, no matter what time it is or where they are. China currently has about 630 million Internet users, who typically spend 25 hours a week connected to the Internet, either on their laptop or their phone. However, access to certain social media sites is restricted in parts of China. Because of this, many self-generated social media platforms took this opportunity to blossom and attract their own community of users. Social media is known as "社交媒体 (shè jiāo méi tǐ) in Chinese.
WECHAT (微信; WĒIXÌN)
WeChat, a mobile app, swept up the pool of potential users of Facebook, developing into what is possibly the biggest hub for communication in China. It has all the features of Facebook Messenger, the usefulness of Venmo and Paypal, and a multitude of other utilities that it seems unfitting to call it simply a “social media platform.”
Created by the Tencent group, it is primarily an instant messaging app for mobile phones. What quickly made its success has been the ability to transmit short voice messages of no more than a minute. Wechat was the first of its kind to have this feature.
The user can only see what the people he has in his contact list post and vice versa. The user can share “moments”. These are small posts that can contain text, images, links or videos.In China, alone this platform reached more than 8 billion of users and reached more transactions online that PayPal had reached in 2015. It is an e-commerce landscape with instant messaging.Not only is it used by individuals; companies and famous persons can host public accounts that generate content for promotional purposes. WeChat is now much more, with an increasing number of available features that turn Wechat into a multi-purpose platform: banking services, e-commerce, payment services, cab calling, gaming among others.
RENREN (人人; RÉN RÉN)
TENCENT RENREN is a classic social media platform has over 150 million users a month. It was one of the first social networking services registered in China. When people talk about the "Chinese version of Facebook", they could also be referring to "RenRen.com." Renren launched in 2005, and gained massive popularity in the wake of Facebook censorship all over China. You can use this platform as an advertising plan to get your services and brands out there, as it delivers an effective message directly to the people.
The color scheme, logos, and design are based on the original Facebook, so much so that people often wonder if there's any affiliation between the two companies. However RenRen's failure to anticipate the switch to mobile, along with several other lost opportunities, eventually led to its downfall. Many people have since switched to WeChat or Weibo, leaving them to dub RenRen as the "Failed Chinese Facebook." There are many ways you can use this platform to your advantage as you can create interactive games with online promotions. Through this manner, users play the games, earning points that they can redeem on your products and services.
WEIBO (微博; WĒIBÓ)
With Twitter being one of the sites inaccessible in China, people still have the capability to sharing snippets of personal opinion. Weibo is the most popular blogging platform for Chinese users. While fundamentally structured like Twitter, the differences in the Chinese and English languages caused this media site to develop differently. Since 140 characters in Mandarin can hold much more content than 140 characters in English, the length of communication on Weibo is considered much more extended than its English version. This platform is so great that it has created an ultimate space for debate and chat in the Chinese society.
Even the local government, official divisions, and the police have all created their own accounts on WEIBO to communicate with the Chinese public and receive feedback. This allows individuals to, instead of just dropping one-liners for each post, do microblogging. Companies with a Weibo account can also increase their level of communication with its customers, posting messages that contain much more content than what they can accomplish with Twitter. Many people take to Weibo to follow celebrities, influencers, and like-minded individuals. It has customisation features as changing your font style and the size, you can share your videos, and multiple images simultaneously, do file share and compose polls – using MP3, PDF, and DMG.
YOUKU TUDOU (优酷土豆; YŌUKÙ TǓDÒU)
Youku and Tudou were once two competing streaming websites, that have since gone through a merger. It is unknown whether the websites will still operate separately.People often use this site to stream or download movies and watch TV shows. Although similar to YouTube in that both host videos for users by users, Youku Tudou contains less self-produced content and more professionally created ones. Much of these videos are from foreign sources, from American movies to Japanese dramas. It is essentially an online alternative to watching television or going to a movie theater. They are subtitled in Mandarin.
DIANPING (大众点评; DÀ ZHÒNG DIǍN PÍNG)
This is often known as the "Yelp of China"; a website and app for crowdsourcing reviews on established businesses. Aside from the main features such as reviewing restaurants, DianPing takes ratings to a granular level, allowing members to vote for their favorite dish at a restaurant. This is very important in China, since it is not uncommon for a Chinese restaurant to have over 100 dishes on their menu.
One very useful feature that DianPing boasts is it's ability to rank restaurants and local business in various cities based on popularity. Traveling to Beijing? Click "Beijing" from the city list to check out the most frequently visited places. DianPing also posts "group deals," which offers hefty discounts for a large number of members using the same service, or dining in the same restaurant. So if Groupon and Yelp had a Chinese baby, it would be DianPing. This startup is currently valued at over 4 billion dollars.
DOUBAN (豆瓣; DÒU BÀN)
Douban is one of the social media sites on our list that has no clear Western equivalent. It's like a mishmash of Imdb, Spotify, SoundCloud, and MySpace. "Culture" seems to be an overarching theme throughout the website, as users use Douban to discuss books, movies, music, and events. There is no need of registering an account if you want to use this site and you will find creative industries to luxury brands on this social platform.
The website makes it easy to book tickets for movies or concerts, and download e-books through their interface. Users can connect with one another based on their similar tastes and interests. Here word of mouth marketing is important when it comes to reviews and ratings. When it comes to online and offline marketing you can create events based on the user’s interests, as they get involved in discussion groups building a fan base and inviting other users at the same time.
In 2013, Douban launched their music subscription service Douban.FM, which offers ad-free music streaming, and operates in a similar way as Spotify.It gives users and businesses immediate interaction with consumers on owned brand pages and discussion pages.
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