The evolution of social networking and messaging platforms has led to a market dominated by major companies like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and WeChat, which are at the forefront of the world’s most popular social networks.
However, aside from these top-ranked networks, there are lesser-known names like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weibo. These rank ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth, respectively, on the list and are native to China, primarily used within the country, yet they still have hundreds of millions of users.
It’s important to note that China has a strict digital censorship policy, with internet access being regulated by the government. As a result, many foreign apps and platforms are not available in the country because they can’t meet the censorship requirements.
Due to these strict regulations, Chinese social networks have developed, initially resembling their Western counterparts. These are platforms for communication and entertainment that foster digital connections but are subject to government-imposed laws. Despite this, some of these networks have gained popularity outside China. Let’s delve into why they are significant and how the seven most popular Chinese social networks work, according to the We Are Social Digital Report China 2024.
Let’s start with the largest in terms of user base in China, with 87.3% of all internet users in the country and about 1.336 billion worldwide, according to the Digital Report by We Are Social. This messaging service is quite similar to WhatsApp, but it offers many more features.
A standout feature of WeChat is the integration of various applications within its interface, known as Mini Programs. These allow the app to provide a wide range of services to its users, the most significant being WeChat Pay, a highly popular electronic payment platform in China. This service has been one of the key drivers of social eCommerce in the country, used by major retail companies like Pinduoduo.
WeChat, like QQ, which will be discussed later, is available internationally, and you can register through its website.
This is the original version of the international sensation TikTok. However, since it’s only available in China, it has fewer users compared to its international counterpart. As of January this year, Douyin had 78.4% of Chinese users. Globally, it has 752 million users.
Douyin offers unique features that set it apart from its international version. Like WeChat, this app is widely used in social eCommerce, providing an innovative sales channel through its short video format. Moreover, it’s a leading platform for live commerce, and in 2021, it facilitated product sales worth 119 billion dollars (over 116.3 billion euros) through live broadcasts.
Additionally, its target audience varies as Douyin attracts users of all ages, even reaching up to 40 years old. This is because the app, while centered on entertainment, covers a broader range of topics, including curiosities and commerce.
This application, represented by a whimsical penguin face, is used by 59.8% of Chinese social media users and 558 million users worldwide. At first glance, the messaging network might seem filled with bots or fake accounts since profiles are denoted by a digit of up to 12 numbers. However, you can create an alias for more appropriate identification. Another unique aspect of QQ is that its accounts have a lifespan of one month, after which they need to be renewed, or the system deactivates them.
The primary function of QQ is messaging, making it similar to platforms like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, which we are accustomed to. However, QQ offers more varied options, including voice chat.
Most importantly, it serves as the gateway to QZone, a “classic” social network used by 28.1% of users in China, not included in this list. QQ also features v.qq.com, formerly known as Tencent Video, a YouTube-style video platform with over 124 million users. Additionally, v.qq.com owns the app AI Painting, which had a brief boom in our country in late 2022 by allowing users to convert images of people into anime designs, causing its content to go viral on social media.
Interface of v.qq.com / Tencent Video
Baidu Tieba, used by 58.8% of Chinese users and chosen by 2.3% as their favorite social network, is a free-access platform that gathers discussion forums, offering users a space to share opinions. The slogan of this social network presents it as “Born for your interest.”
Interface of Baidu Tieba
In its forums, which cover a multitude of topics from celebrities and movies to books and comics, over a billion posts have been published, and in fact, Baidu Tieba’s traffic accounts for more than 10% of Baidu’s total traffic. The Chinese company Baidu also has an open encyclopedia where all users can participate, similar to Wikipedia, called Baidu Baike, and a direct shopping website.
51.2% of social media users in China use this platform focused on lifestyle content, founded in Shanghai in 2013. Xiaohongshu is particularly popular among young Chinese people, who use it for inspiration, sharing content, and discovering new interests through short videos, images, and texts. Some of the most popular categories are fashion, personal care, makeup, travel, food, reading, fitness, and motherhood.
Additionally, this app functions not only as a social network but also has Xiaohongshu Welfare, an eCommerce platform. Here, users can purchase items like beauty products, fashion, home appliances, and more.
This social network surpassed Sina Weibo, which occupied the sixth position among the most used social networks in China in 2022. Kuaishou includes platforms like Kwai and Snack Video, is used by 47.6% of the population in the country, and has 685 million users worldwide, with TikTok being its main competitor.
The predecessor of Kuaishou was “GIF Kuaishou,” a mobile app created in 2011 for making and sharing GIFs. In November 2012, the app transformed into a short video community and a platform for users to record and share videos showcasing their daily lives. The founders of this social network are Hua Su and Cheng Yixiao, with the former having previously worked as a software engineer for Google and Baidu.
In 2013, the app reached 100 million daily users. By 2019, that number had surpassed 200 million active daily users, topping the download charts on Google Play and Apple App Store in eight countries.
This platform is also known and downloaded as Snack Video in various places, including our country, for example.
Snack Video App in Google Store
This could be termed as the Chinese version of Twitter, a network that was banned due to the country’s censorship. 46.8% of Chinese social media users use Sina Weibo as their social platform, 2.5% less than in 2022, which caused it to drop one rank among China’s most used social networks. Globally, it has 605 million users.
Although this microblogging network emerged as an alternative to Twitter, since 2016, it abandoned the character limit, a hallmark of Twitter. Additionally, it differs in its format, which is more similar to discussion forums, making it more akin to Facebook today.
The anonymity it offers involves constant surveillance by the country’s censorship, and several sources have repeatedly pointed out that there is a group of people in the Chinese government dedicated solely to monitoring posts on Sina Weibo, which includes anonymous accounts as well as well-known figures in the country. It is also the network where national and international companies focus on maintaining their profiles.
Photo: Depositphotos
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