Introduction
Social media has become the most used in the world, particularly for a certain age group. Its use continues to grow every other day especially with the advent of technological advancement that is being witnessed to grow in the 21st century exponentially. China is not any different, especially for a world’s populous nation. The population in China has given room for the emergence of their social media platform named WeChat and Weibo, and they are continuously growing to become the mainstream network (Tang, Wu, Huang and Liu 93). The growth is attributed to various factors business, communication and networking being some of the reasons behind the continuous expansion.
Uses of WeChat and Weibo
Weibo and WeChat have become mainstream media platform because of their various uses and ease of use for individuals. Particularly, brands are quick to establish an audience in public forums. Both Weibo and WeChat can be used on the desktop and mobile phones, with the latter having a more simplistic version for desktop application (Keane 387). Weibo has an open platform where information and messages are available to all the users, which are quickly distributed to the users. The main use of Weibo includes providing a channel that avails all the necessary alerts especially for breaking news stories. Furthermore, users are in a position to connect with their celebrities at all the times and catch up on the trending topics as set by the personalities. For Weibo, the users might not be friends but sharing a common interest often results in the sharing of the same forum. Most users have interests in the same topics including travel, celebrities, health, and food among others. Brands use Weibo because the ads are public which makes it possible to have a significantly higher reach to a particular audience (Tang, Wu, Huang and Liu 94).
WeChat, on the other hand, has a selectively closed platform for the users. Consequently, the message and information disseminated from different users are only visible to their friends. The platform works on the premise of privacy between the users as they have a one-to-one or two-way communication. Communication on WeChat is often among friends and family as they keep in touch from different locations across the country. Mostly, the users encompass individuals that they know in real life and relatives or individuals they are looking to form a personal or professional relationship over time. Notably, brands use the platform to market products or service work on the premise of targeting the audience through various advertisements. The advertisements become useful and reach a wide audience when the friends share them across their circles. Consequently, the uses of the two popular social network platform remain to further the interest at a private and private level especially for brands keen on using them for marketing. Mainstreaming of the same has become possible because it is widely used across the country.
Competition between the WeChat and Weibo
Weibo and WeChat have become the popular and influential platforms in China over the years and is preferred because of the opportunities it accords the users. International and domestic brands are constantly reaping the benefits of the platforms because the opportunities provided by the two major platforms are unlimited. Weibo enjoys an approximate 200 million users while Weibo has 700 million active users every month (Tang, Wu, Huang and Liu 96). Therefore, Weibo comes out as the suitable platform that individuals prefer for the sole reason that it has more viewership and readership. Even though Weibo and Wechat are in a competition, they come out to be unique in their own way and the audience it attracts.
Weibo is a platform that has become an open forum for the users to interact with the celebrities. The ability of fans to converse with their favorite celebrities is supported by the platform because it is fast, visible and timely message delivery to the users. Consequently, brands use the platforms to build their brands through the most popular celebrities in China. WeChat, on the other hand, is different because it provides one-to-one and group messaging. In addition, it provides the opportunity for the creation of subscription accounts and friend circles (Keane 390). Notably, Wechat gives people the chance to form more intimate and selective relationship. Brands easily identify with the platform because it provides the opportunity to build a loyal customer base because the content is often creditable compared to Weibo. Consequently, the differences bring about the competition based on the target audience that the brands are targeting. The choice has to be carefully thought through because it has to have a return on investment and have an increased probability of sustainability.
Conclusion
Wechat and Weibo have become more mainstream social network platforms because of their popularity among the users. The tailored natures, which the platforms are designed, make them suitable for communication, socialization, and conduction of businesses among others. The other platforms are continuing to grow but not at a similar rate. Perhaps in the future, the other platforms might catch up depending on their approach to the ever-changing advancement in technology and growth in social media use across the country and beyond.
Work cited
Keane, Michael. Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in China. Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc, 2016.Top of Form
Tang, Xujun, Xinxun Wu, Chuxin Huang, and Ruisheng Liu. Development Report on China’s New Media, 2017.
BISMCS 333 SUMMER 2017 