weibo in china & weibo vs. twitter
DESCRIPTION
An overview of Weibo and Weibo vs Twitter. Companion handout: http://www.slideshare.net/minghuiyu/twitter-vs-weibo-38016384TRANSCRIPT
Surfing Weibo
A Brief Overview of Weibo and Social Media in China
Minghui YuWeb CoordinatorIrving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC Library
Topics covered
1. Brief overview of Internet in China2. What’s Weibo?3. Weibo as a media4. Weibo as a research tool5. Open a Weibo account
Brief Overview of Internet in China
• Lots, lots, lots of users (591 millions as of June 2013)• Percentage of mobile users is increasing• Percentage of rural users is increasing
Brief Overview of Internet in China (cont.)
Popular Services and Websites
What is Weibo anyway?
A copycat of Twitter ?
青出於藍而勝於藍
Weibo vs. Twitter*Based on official webpage version, excluding features only available in client applications (Apps, desktop versions, etc.)
In Twitter, it is: In Weibo, it is:
Each entry Tweet Weibo
Republish Retweet Retweet, not RT
Forward
Twitter vs. Weibo
Please see handout
Twitter WeiboLength limit of each entry (Figure 1)
140 characters
140 characters But Weibo has more tricks
Republish own entry No A user cannot Retweet his own tweet
Yes
Republish an entry multiple times
No A user can only retweet a tweet once.
Yes
Original entry show one time only (Figure 2)
Yes Original tweet appears just once even it was retweeted by different users on your following list.
No If n users on your following list forwarded a Weibo, that original Weibo appears on your homepage n times.
Republished entry appears on top Does republished entry have a timestamp of when the original entry was published or when it was republished?
No. Timestamp of original entry published
Even if one of your following users just retweetted one, the one doesn’t appear on top of your homepage.
Yes Timestamp of republished moment Forwarded (original) Weibo is always bumped up.
Republish credit gives to (Figure 3)
The first user on your following list who republished it
All users on the republishing path
Just leaving comments? Can you just comment on an entry? (Figure 4)
No When a user comment on a tweet, the comment becomes this user’s tweet and is available to this users’ followings
Yes A user can comment on a Weibo but not forwarding it
Republish with quotes (Figure 5)
No Retweet is exactly the same as original tweet.
Yes Users can add own quotes (e.g.: comments) when forwarding a Webo.
Republish path (Figure 6)
Not very clear Click “Retweeted by …” can reveal the order of retweeting
Very clear Forwarding path is clearly indicated
Text as Image (Figure 7)
No Yes Users can write a long Weibo (up to 10,000 Chinese letters) and converted it as an image that will be embedded in Weibo.
Group management (Figure 8)
Basic Twitter’s List provides basic group management features. But “Lists are used for reading Tweets only. You cannot send or direct a Tweet to members of a list, for only those list members to see.”
Advanced Can do all Twitter’s List can do plus users can publish a Weibo to specified users only.
Protected Entry Yes No
Weibo as a media
Self-Media
What if you have thousands, tens of thousands, millions, tens of millions followers?
vs
Big V
What is Big V?
Verified Weibo users who have millions, even tens of millions followers
Left-wing Right-wing
Fast Response
2011 Wenzhou Train Collision
Survivors reported the accident on Weibo 4 minutes after the collision. Millions of, if not tens of millions of people already knew the accident before the first traditional media reported it 40 minutes later.
Teamwork & collaboration
Brother Wrist Watch Yang Dacai, former Director of Work Safety Administration Agency in Shanxi Province. His smile at a deadly bus crash scene put him on fire. Weibo users found Yang apparently had many expensive wrist watches and considered it was strong evidence of corruption. Government responded swiftly by starting formal investigation on Yang. Yang got 14 years in jail for corruption, finally.
Self-correction
Battle between Rumors/Lies and Anti-rumor
(Weibo,) China’s Rumor Mill New York Time, March 29 2012
Rumors are usually associated with different political views
vs.
“American Citizens, wherever you are, US Armed Force is always your strong backing.”
vs.“Chinese Citizens, obey local law and regulations.”
Open
Government uses Weibo as an open platform
Former star politician Bo Xilai on Provincial Court. Hearing Transcripts were put on Weibo shortly after.
Traditional media’s destiny?A famous host was caught reading Weibo to report Bo’s trial
Chaos
Spam, lots of spams
Ghost followers
Christine Lagarde Managing Director of the IMF
Government’s Reaction
CensorshipSemi-shutdown
• March 2012 (No commenting, only forwarding)Crackdown on rumors and Big V
“Xue is involved in organising prostitute party crime and other economic crimes”
--Beijing Police
Weibo as a research tool
Apps Marketplace
Data Mining
Open Data Platform (API access)
How to open a Weibo account
Personal Account
Enterprise Account
Verified Account
Weibo’s Competitors
1. Soho’s micro blog2. Tencent’s micro blog3. Tencent’s WeChat4. … …
Thank you!