Chinese social networks: overview and interesting facts

The market of online services continues to grow rapidly throughout the world. Among those states in which the most active development of the corresponding segment is expected is China. Especially popular among users of the PRC are social networks. But not always those that we are accustomed to hearing about, but quite unique, national online projects. What is their specificity? Which social networks of the People's Republic of China can be attributed to the most popular?

Are social networks popular in China?

Before considering the popular Chinese social networks, we will study the question of whether the relevant communication portals are in demand in China in principle?

As many experts note, the Chinese are very accustomed to social networks and spend a considerable amount of time reading the information presented in them. However, the same is probably worth mentioning about the inhabitants of many other states. There are Chinese social networks in Russian: their appearance, on the one hand, may indicate the interest of developers from China in the development of the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet, despite the strong competition from, in fact, Russian projects, on the other - reflects the popularity of the Russian language in the world. Quite a lot of Russian-speaking citizens live in China itself.

Peculiarities of the development of social networks in China

It is worth noting that popular Western online projects - such as Facebook and Twitter - are difficult to use in China due to the state control of access to relevant resources. Thus, online platforms that have become accustomed to the Western man in the street may simply not be known to many Chinese residents. But, despite the strict approach of the PRC government to regulate the access of citizens to the Internet, the main technological trends that characterize the development of online have not been bypassed by China.

So, the uncontrollable growth in the popularity of social networks, which occurred on a planetary scale in the second half of 2000, was reflected in the Chinese segment of the Internet. While in the West, on the computers of users, Facebook was triumphantly trespassing, in Russia - "Vkontakte" and "Classmates", Chinese social networks developed on their own, completely inferior to the leading world samples in terms of functionality, and in a number of aspects and exceeding them.

Chinese social networks today

Thus, social networks in China, as in other countries of the world, have become popular and continue to be so today. At the same time, the factor of the Internet's autonomization in China imposed an extremely significant impact on the structure of the corresponding online segment: the most popular social networks in the PRC were national, not international projects. The star of the Chinese social network Weibo, probably, will not be inferior among the PRC residents by popularity to world-famous characters who have accounts in Facebook and other international portals. At the same time, what is noteworthy, people can get fame by using several large online platforms.

The largest social networks in China

What are the most recognizable Chinese social networks? The rating of such is quite difficult - if only because the online market in China continues to develop actively, and if today some projects are leading, then tomorrow, in principle, they can be replaced by others. But if we talk about the most popular brands of the Chinese online industry in the segment of social networks, then to legitimate include projects:

- WeChat.

- Sina Weibo.

- QQ.

- Renren.

- Baidu Tieba.

Let us consider them in more detail.

The largest social networks in China: WeChat

Let's start to consider Chinese social networks with a major project WeChat. This social network appeared in January 2011 as a mobile application, the main functions of which were voice calls and text messages between users. In addition, through the interfaces of this application, users were able to share pictures, audio and video.

The most notable features of the WeChat project can be attributed to the implementation of algorithms that allowed to organize the exchange of multimedia content with little traffic. Another feature that characterizes the social network under consideration is the use of functions based on the location of a person.

According to some reports, WeChat registered about 400 million users in the social network. The interfaces of the social network in question are available in several dozen languages. Thus, if we consider Chinese social networks in Russian, the largest of them will be rightly attributed the project WeChat.

It can be noted that the functionality of the corresponding application is used by the PRC residents mainly to find interesting entertainment, call emergency services, taxi, pay for purchases, as well as various services via the Internet. The functional of the social network in question allows you to conduct money transactions.

It is noteworthy that it was in the WeChat application that stickers were implemented when sending messages. This function was later adopted by other well-known social networks.

The WeChat project was recognized as one of the most commercial successful. In 2015, the social network revenue exceeded by some estimates $ 14 billion. Other Chinese social networks, as experts say, have not yet achieved such results.

It can be noted that the WeChat project is quite actively developed in the Indian market. His promotion is carried out using the Ibibo website with the assistance of telecommunications company Tencent from China.

Sina Weibo

Another popular social network in China is Sina Weibo. It appeared before WeChat, in 2009. As experts say, the Chinese social network Weibo for basic functions is similar to the Russian project "Vkontakte". Using the interfaces available on the corresponding portal, users can exchange messages, audio and video recordings, as well as various documents.

It is noteworthy that the interaction between users within the social network Weibo is censored. Thus, non-normative statements, forbidden information, as well as communications, which for some reason are forbidden by the government structures of the People's Republic of China, are filtered. It can be noted, however, that users who placed unwanted information in the Weibo social network are able to delete it without consequences. On this they are given some time.

Among other notable functions of the social network in question is the possibility to use the gaming platform. It is not necessary to register in the social network.

It can be noted that the portal in question can also be actively used by Chinese citizens to make purchases on the network: the corresponding social network is integrated with the popular online service for Shangou purchases.

Social network QQ

The next popular Chinese project is QQ. There is another name for this social network - Qzone. It is a service through which users can exchange messages, make video calls when using different devices.

It is noteworthy that the corresponding social network is popular not only in China, but also outside the PRC. If we consider, in particular, the popular Chinese social networks in English, the project in question can be attributed to the most recognizable.

According to some sources, the corresponding social network is the third largest in the world in terms of the number of users. She concedes only to the largest international projects - Facebook and Google. Registered in it more than 600 million users.

The developer of the project is the Chinese telecommunications corporation Tencent Inc. This company is the largest Internet provider. This brand, therefore, is also involved in supporting the WeChat social network, the specifics of which we reviewed above.

Project Renren

The next major online project, which is being developed by Chinese experts - social network Renren. As experts say, this portal is especially popular with Chinese students. This platform belongs to the earliest - it appeared in 2005.

Developed social network was a student of Tianjin University. Through the interfaces of the corresponding social network, users can exchange messages, various types of multimedia content, play games, pay for purchases in online stores.

Monetization of social network Renren is carried out by different methods. In particular, commercial pages bring profit to the project: they can be successfully used by large brands in their marketing strategy. Thus, from the point of view of commercialization, Chinese social networks can be the most successful projects.

Among other notable characteristics of the social network Renren - the availability of opportunities to provide the highest level of confidentiality of user data. So, the owner of a personal page in this social network, can hide the data about himself from viewing by third-party users.

Baidu Tieba Project

The next powerful online project of the PRC is the social network Baidu Tieba. It also belongs to the category of the earliest - the social network appeared in December 2003. The peculiarity of this project is the ability to find interesting data with the help of key phrases. The main goal of this platform is to unite people with common interests. Thus, if we consider Chinese social networks for dating, then the Baidu Tieba project can be attributed to the most attractive for users.

Baidu as an international brand

The network in question is actually part of the Baidu search system, which is the largest in the world. It can be noted that another service within Baidu, which can be called a full-fledged social network, is Baidu Space.

In general, the Baidu search system includes quite a lot of popular and technological services. It also implements many useful communication functions.

Sotsseti in the PRC as a tool for business promotion

It can be noted that Chinese social networks - in Russian, as well as others, that are foreign to the PRC residents - are in many cases used by interested parties as effective marketing tools - when promoting their own business in China. In this sense, the knowledge of the relevant platforms can be of particular interest from commercial enterprises planning to settle in the prospective market.

Many of the world's largest brands use Chinese resources for marketing purposes. In many cases, those approaches to the promotion of goods and services that have proven themselves outside of China, it becomes possible to reproduce and in the PRC. This tactic becomes possible, first of all, thanks to the very significant involvement of Chinese citizens in social networking, as well as the high degree of universalization of the interfaces of the respective platforms, if we compare Western and Chinese projects.

Summary

So, we studied popular Chinese social networks. The list of those that are considered by us, of course, can not be considered a rating, but it generally reflects the prominence of the relevant projects. Residents of the PRC were involved in the development of social networking capabilities at a pace that is in principle not inferior to those that characterize the activity of Western Internet users.

The most powerful online projects in the segment of social networks in China are those created by Chinese developers. Western projects are under the censorship of the state, and even if it is weakened, it is not at all ruled out that the people of the PRC are switching massively to visiting international portals. This may be due, first of all, to the fact that Chinese social networks are in principle not inferior to those developed outside the PRC, in terms of functionality, convenience of interfaces, and level of manufacturability.

Social networks of the People's Republic of China can be used by the largest brands as an effective marketing tool - similar to the way resources are used outside China.