Weibo, or micro-blogging, has become a very popular way of sharing life with old and new acquaintances. Provided to China Daily

Join the weibo Phenomenon and see how many 微 things can be done within 140 characters

Micro-blogging culture in China has gone through many stages of evolution since the advent of Twitter in 2006. While people all over the world now use micro blogs to read and browse news, follow celebrities or upload photos of their dinner, China's services, such as Sina and Tencent weibo, have emerged as top dogs and developed their own unique characteristics.

Sharing entertainment and opinions is easier to do on Chinese services than counterparts like Twitter because they allow users to respond to each other's posts and start conversations, as well as share pictures, videos and other multimedia.

As such, Sina's weibo forged ahead with a strategy focused on attracting fans to its celebrity posters. Tencent, meanwhile, responded by leveraging its massive base of QQ (Chinese online chat tool) users to propel its own weibo service.

As so many people, from well-known stars to ordinary people, can present their daily lives, pictures and comments by typing just 140 characters, micro-blogging has become a very popular way of sharing life with old and new acquaintances.

One hundred and forty characters saves time, saves energy and can be finished wherever you are, whatever you are doing. As a result, people say that in 2011 we have entered the micro age (微时代 wēi shídài).

On Sina's weibo, what Twitter would term "followers" are defined instead as "fans" (粉丝 fěnsī) and the top 10 most-followed micro-bloggers are celebrities.

Actress Yao Chen, for example, has been China's leading micro-blogger for more than two years. When she posted a photo of her cat gazing out of the window, it was forwarded 5,500 times and garnered nearly 4,000 comments.

Writer and rally car racer Han Han posted a single word - "hey (喂 wèi)" - and it received 11,000 comments.

Yet Yao Chen and Han Han are also notable for their willingness to engage in social issues and help generate debate and lobby for change.

Those who follow these debates are generally regarded as "the silent majority". The celebrities connect Sina Weibo users under one umbrella, but most use the service to qianshui (潜水, browse other people's micro blogs without commenting) and weiguan (围观, watch as a crowd of bystanders), instead of being active posters.

Yao Jiaxin, a university student who ran over a cyclist and then stabbed her to death out of fear she had remembered his plate number, was sentenced to death for the crime after a massive public outcry on weibo.

The Wenzhou train crash was also covered in intensive detail by micro bloggers, with 27 million posts covering the disaster from the moment of impact onwards; some of these even resulted in officials admitting mistakes and reversing statements they had made in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

But weibo's versatility and scale have also left it open to abuse. While much of the news posted is valid, there have been numerous instances of "false rumors" (假新闻 jiǎ xīnwén).

As one Internet expert put it on Thoughtful China, an online video series focused on all things related to the Chinese Internet, weibo is "like a massive karaoke room, great for gossip, but bad for news".

In December of last year, the Beijing government released its Regulations for the Development and Management of Micro blogs, (shimingzhi, real-name registration), requiring weibo users to provide their true identities when registering for micro blog accounts.

The shimingzhi regulations call for micro blog hosts to "contribute to the construction of a harmonious socialist society" and cracking down on false rumors on weibo.

微 things on weibo:

Micro blog hiring (微招聘 wēi zhāopìn): Want to get the freshest news about job hunting? Micro blog hiring seems to be an easy way. Companies post recruitment information everyday on their weibo accounts. If you are interested in one of the jobs, you may just reply to the bosses of the company with your micro-resume, and they will check it out. It might even increase the chances of you being employed.

Micro blog corruption (微腐败 wēi fǔbài): A micro blog diary written by Tan, a former secretary of the Party committee in Enshi, Hubei province, was posted on weibo, recording every bribe he accepted. After the diary was exposed, Tan said he was framed. But later, he was arrested and his guilt was proven in court. Many Web users were just surprised by his short and simple record of the unimaginably large amount of bribes he accepted.

Micro blog marriage proposal (微求婚 wēi qiúhūn): A TV host in Shenzhen posted a short weibo, saying: 看到别人的求婚视频，你一边飚泪一边说我还欠你一个求婚！其实我真的是不懂浪漫，不会太多的甜言蜜语！也许没有大富大贵，但是我能承诺给你平凡生活中的幸福和快乐！希望等到我们年华老去时，还能一起相守看落日夕阳！@深圳电台贝贝 will you marry me ? 希望大家能帮忙多多转发，送出祝福！

(Translation: When you are moved by others' marriage proposal videos, you say to me that I owe you a marriage proposal. I know I am not romantic, and I don't know how to say a lot of honeyed words. Thought I can't promise you riches, I pledge to give you a lifetime of happiness.)

Then he posted it @ the girl's weibo and begged other website users to forward his proposal so that more people would see it. The weibo was forwarded nearly 500 times and the girl replied: Yes, I will love you as long as I live.

So you want to give a special marriage proposal? Come to weibo and get blessings from website users all over the world.

Micro blog family letter (微家书 wēi jiāshū): Sina launched an activity to write a letter to parents on weibo within 140 characters. More than 150,000 letters have been written. Children express thoughts of their parents, their thanks to their parents, and some of the children also complain how their parents forced them to go on blind dates to find a marriage partner.

If you want to write a family letter yourself, just sign in your weibo and post your words with 微家书, which symbolizes your participation in this innovative activity.

There are hundreds of 微 things on weibo, including 微小说 (micro blog novels), 微情书 (micro blog love letters) and 微音乐 (micro blog music). You can also create your own 微 items and call up others to join in and share them.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese