Sina Weibo
Encyclopedia
Sina Weibo is a Chinese
microblogging
(weibo
) website. Akin to a hybrid of Twitter
and Facebook
, it is one of the most popular sites in China
, in use by well over 30% of Internet users, with a similar market penetration that Twitter has established in the USA. It was launched by SINA Corporation on 14 August 2009, and has more than 250 million registered users as of October 2011.
weibo.com on 7 April 2011, deactivating and redirecting from the old domain, t.sina.com.cn to the new one. Due to its popularity, the own published news of Sina.com
and some other media use directly "Weibo" to refer to Sina Weibo sometimes. However, there are other China-based microblogging/weibo services
including Tencent Weibo
, Sohu Weibo and NetEase Weibo.
have been blocked since then. It was considered to be an opportunity to Sina's CEO Charles Chao. SINA Corporation launched the tested version of Sina Weibo on August 14, 2009. Basic functions including message, private message, comment and re-post were made possible in September, 2009. A Sina Weibo-compatible API platform for developing third-party applications was launched on July 28, 2010.
On December 1, 2010 the website experienced an outage, administrators later claimed it was due to the increasing numbers of users and posts. Registered users surpassed 100 million before March 2011. Since March 23, 2011, t.cn has been used as Sina Weibo's official URL shortening
domain name in lieu of sinaurl.cn. On 7 April, 2011, weibo.com replaced t.sina.com.cn to be the new domain used by the website. Meanwhile the official logo was updated also. In June, Sina announced an English version of Sina Weibo would be developed and launched, where the contents would still be controlled by Chinese law.
's report on March 30, 2011, Sina Weibo had 56.5% of China's microblogging market based on active users and 86.6% based on browsing time over competitors such as Tencent Weibo and Baidu
's services. The top 100 users had over 485 million followers combined. Furthermore, Sina said that more than 5,000 companies and 2,700 media organizations in China uses Sina Weibo. The site is maintained by a growing microblogging department of 200 employees responsible for technology, design, operations, and marketing.
Sina executives invited and persuaded many Chinese celebrities to join the platform. The users of Sina Weibo include Chinese (mostly from mainland China
, also many from Hong Kong
, Taiwan
and Macau
) movie stars, singers, famous business and media figures, athletes, scholars, artists, organizations, government departments and officials. Like Twitter, Sina Weibo has a verification program for known people and organizations. Once an account is verified, a verification badge will be added beside the account name.
are automatically shortened using the domain name t.cn like Twitter's t.co. Official and third-party applications make users able to access Sina Weibo from other websites or platforms.
Additionally, users are allowed to insert graphical emoticons or attach own image, music, video files in every post. Comments to a post can be shown as a list right below the post, the commenter can also choose whether to re-post the comment, quoting the whole original post, to commenter's own page.
Unregistered users can only browse a few posts by verified accounts. Neither unverified account pages nor comments to the posts by verified accounts are accessible to unregistered users.
, iOS, Symbian S60, Windows Mobile
and Windows Phone 7
.
Sina also released a desktop client for Microsoft Windows under the product name of Weibo Desktop (literally means: 微博桌面).
and Taiwan
.
, Sina set strict controls over the posts on its services. Posts with links using some URL shortening services (incl. Google's goo.gl), or containing blacklisted keywords, or in Tibetan language
are not allowed on Sina Weibo. Posts on sensitive topics forbidden in China (e.g. Human rights
, Liu Xiaobo
) would be deleted after manual checking.
On March 9, 2010, the posts by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei
at Sina Weibo to appeal for information on 2008 Sichuan earthquake going public was deleted and his account was closed by website's administrator. Any account with a name possibly relevant to Ai Weiwei has then been blocked to be created. On March 30, 2010, Hongkongese singer Gigi Leung
blogged about the jailed Zhao Lianhai
, an activist and father to a 2008 Chinese milk scandal
victim. The post was later forcibly deleted by administrator.
However compared to other Chinese media formats, weibo services are considered freer. Criticism against the Chinese government is more widespread on Sina Weibo and other weibo services. After the July 2011 Wenzhou train collision
, many dissatisfied posts concerning governmental corruption were posted throughout the Sina Weibo.
While weibo services might not always be in favor of government officials, many Chinese officials opened weibo accounts.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
microblogging
Microblogging
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size...
Microblogging in China
Weibo is the Chinese word for "microblog". It usually refers to one or all of the China-based microblogging services, or one's account at these services.-Terms:...
) website. Akin to a hybrid of Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, it is one of the most popular sites in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, in use by well over 30% of Internet users, with a similar market penetration that Twitter has established in the USA. It was launched by SINA Corporation on 14 August 2009, and has more than 250 million registered users as of October 2011.
Naming
"Weibo" (微博) is the Chinese word for "microblog(ging)". Sina Weibo launched its new domain nameDomain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
weibo.com on 7 April 2011, deactivating and redirecting from the old domain, t.sina.com.cn to the new one. Due to its popularity, the own published news of Sina.com
Sina.com
SINA is an online media company for China and Chinese communities around the world. SINA operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, SINA Mobile, SINA Online, and SINA.net. SINA has over 100 million registered users worldwide...
and some other media use directly "Weibo" to refer to Sina Weibo sometimes. However, there are other China-based microblogging/weibo services
Microblogging in China
Weibo is the Chinese word for "microblog". It usually refers to one or all of the China-based microblogging services, or one's account at these services.-Terms:...
including Tencent Weibo
Tencent Weibo
Tencent Weibo is a Chinese microblogging website launched by Tencent in April, 2010, and is still currently under beta testing. Users may broadcast a message including 140 Chinese characters at most through the web, SMS or smartphone.-Features:...
, Sohu Weibo and NetEase Weibo.
History
After the July 2009 Urumqi riots, China shut down most of the domestic Twitter-like services including the first weibo service Fanfou. Many popular non China-based microblogging services like Twitter, Facebook and PlurkPlurk
Plurk is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates through short messages or links, which can be up to 140 text characters in length....
have been blocked since then. It was considered to be an opportunity to Sina's CEO Charles Chao. SINA Corporation launched the tested version of Sina Weibo on August 14, 2009. Basic functions including message, private message, comment and re-post were made possible in September, 2009. A Sina Weibo-compatible API platform for developing third-party applications was launched on July 28, 2010.
On December 1, 2010 the website experienced an outage, administrators later claimed it was due to the increasing numbers of users and posts. Registered users surpassed 100 million before March 2011. Since March 23, 2011, t.cn has been used as Sina Weibo's official URL shortening
URL shortening
URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator may be made substantially shorter in length and still direct to the required page. This is achieved by using an HTTP Redirect on a domain name that is short, which links to the web page that has a long URL...
domain name in lieu of sinaurl.cn. On 7 April, 2011, weibo.com replaced t.sina.com.cn to be the new domain used by the website. Meanwhile the official logo was updated also. In June, Sina announced an English version of Sina Weibo would be developed and launched, where the contents would still be controlled by Chinese law.
Users
According to iResearchIResearch Consulting Group
iResearch Consulting Group is a professional market research company and is a leading supplier of online business and new economy developments service in China. The company focuses on Internet media, e-commerce, online games, wireless value-added, and various new economic fields, which relate to...
's report on March 30, 2011, Sina Weibo had 56.5% of China's microblogging market based on active users and 86.6% based on browsing time over competitors such as Tencent Weibo and Baidu
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. , simply known as Baidu and incorporated on January 18, 2000, is a Chinese web services company headquartered in the Baidu Campus in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China....
's services. The top 100 users had over 485 million followers combined. Furthermore, Sina said that more than 5,000 companies and 2,700 media organizations in China uses Sina Weibo. The site is maintained by a growing microblogging department of 200 employees responsible for technology, design, operations, and marketing.
Sina executives invited and persuaded many Chinese celebrities to join the platform. The users of Sina Weibo include Chinese (mostly from mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, also many from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
) movie stars, singers, famous business and media figures, athletes, scholars, artists, organizations, government departments and officials. Like Twitter, Sina Weibo has a verification program for known people and organizations. Once an account is verified, a verification badge will be added beside the account name.
Features
Sina Weibo implements many features from Twitter. Users may post with a 140-character limit, mention or talk to other people using "@UserName" format, add hashtags with "#HashName#" format, follow other people to make his/her posts appear in users' own timeline, re-post with "//@UserName" similar to Twitter's retweet function "RT @UserName", put a post into the favorite list, verify the account if the user is a celebrity. URLsUniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
are automatically shortened using the domain name t.cn like Twitter's t.co. Official and third-party applications make users able to access Sina Weibo from other websites or platforms.
Additionally, users are allowed to insert graphical emoticons or attach own image, music, video files in every post. Comments to a post can be shown as a list right below the post, the commenter can also choose whether to re-post the comment, quoting the whole original post, to commenter's own page.
Unregistered users can only browse a few posts by verified accounts. Neither unverified account pages nor comments to the posts by verified accounts are accessible to unregistered users.
Clients
Sina produced mobile applications for various platforms to access Sina Weibo, the platforms include Android, Blackberry OSBlackBerry OS
BlackBerry OS is a proprietary mobile operating system, developed by Research In Motion for its BlackBerry line of smartphone handheld devices...
, iOS, Symbian S60, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
and Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
.
Sina also released a desktop client for Microsoft Windows under the product name of Weibo Desktop (literally means: 微博桌面).
International versions
Sina Weibo is available in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters. The site also has versions catering to users from Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
Other services
Weilingdi (微领地) is another service bundled with Weibo that is similar to Foursquare, a location-based social networking website based on software for mobile devices. In addition, Sina Lady Weibo (新浪女性微博) is another service, which specializes in women's interests.Censorship & free speech
Due to the Internet censorship in ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China
Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
, Sina set strict controls over the posts on its services. Posts with links using some URL shortening services (incl. Google's goo.gl), or containing blacklisted keywords, or in Tibetan language
Standard Tibetan
Standard Tibetan is the most widely used spoken form of the Tibetan languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect belonging to the Central Tibetan languages. For this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Central Tibetan...
are not allowed on Sina Weibo. Posts on sensitive topics forbidden in China (e.g. Human rights
Human rights in the People's Republic of China
Human rights in the People's Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government, other countries, international NGOs, and dissidents inside the country. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese...
, Liu Xiaobo
Liu Xiaobo
Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist single-party rule in China...
) would be deleted after manual checking.
On March 9, 2010, the posts by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008...
at Sina Weibo to appeal for information on 2008 Sichuan earthquake going public was deleted and his account was closed by website's administrator. Any account with a name possibly relevant to Ai Weiwei has then been blocked to be created. On March 30, 2010, Hongkongese singer Gigi Leung
Gigi Leung
Gigi Leung Wing-kei is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress.-Biography:Given the name Leung Bik-Zi at birth, at the age of 7 her mother changed her name changed to 'Wing-Kei' for superstitious reasons; as a child, Leung suffered from frequent asthma attacks and it was believed a change of name...
blogged about the jailed Zhao Lianhai
Zhao Lianhai
Zhao Lianhai is a Chinese dissident and former food safety worker who became an activist for parents of children harmed during the 2008 Chinese milk scandal. In 2010 he was sentenced to 2½ years imprisonment for 'disturbing social order'....
, an activist and father to a 2008 Chinese milk scandal
2008 Chinese milk scandal
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a food safety incident in the People's Republic of China, involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, adulterated with melamine....
victim. The post was later forcibly deleted by administrator.
However compared to other Chinese media formats, weibo services are considered freer. Criticism against the Chinese government is more widespread on Sina Weibo and other weibo services. After the July 2011 Wenzhou train collision
Wenzhou train collision
On 23 July 2011, two high-speed trains travelling on the Yongtaiwen railway line collided on a viaduct in the suburbs of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The two trains derailed each other, and four cars fell off the viaduct...
, many dissatisfied posts concerning governmental corruption were posted throughout the Sina Weibo.
While weibo services might not always be in favor of government officials, many Chinese officials opened weibo accounts.
Livery Airplane
On 8 June 2011, Tianjin Airlines unveiled an Embraer E-190 jet in special Sina Weibo livery and named it "Sina Weibo (Hao)" (新浪微博号). It is the first commercial airplane to be named after a website in China.External links
- Sina Weibo website
- Other versions of Sina Weibo: Traditional character, Taiwanese, Hongkongese
- Official clients for various platforms: Android phones, Android tablets, Blackberry, iPhone & iPod touch, iPad, Symbian S60, Windows Mobile & Windows Phone 7 devices