What do Chinese netizens do?
The Chinese Firewall blocks a variety of online platforms, which give rise to a multitude of alternatives for Chinese netizens to use. As such, Chinese citizens have a robust variety of online activities, including fast, efficient platforms for messaging, browsing, streaming, and shopping. These platforms fully cover the needs that are usually fulfilled by tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix, and thrive in an environment with few international competitors.
Some of the most popular apps, across a wide range of purposes, include the following:
An online messaging app, much like Facebook’s Messenger; I would say that it is a much more popular version, however. While online platforms in America are generally popular only amongst select age groups (e.g. Instagram and Snapchat are very popular amongst middle/high school students, while Facebook and Twitter are somewhat less so), almost everyone in China uses WeChat, from Grandma to that annoying middle schooler next door. From personal experience, it’s essentially one of the most convenient forms of messaging.
A micro-blogging platform, which now has more users than Twitter, over 340 million active monthly users as of 2017. (BBC.com) It’s one of the most popular social media platforms in China.
Baidu
One of the most popular browsing platforms, much like Google Chrome or Safari in America. It readily censors information deemed detrimental to the Chinese government, and thus has successfully grown as a tech company; however, one usually cannot tell the difference between the services offered by Baidu and the services offered by Chrome or Safari.
Youku
A video hosting service, much like Youtube or Netflix. It has a wide variety of content; I am most familiar with its reality/variety shows and dramas/soap operas, though there are more types of content, including short news clips or other random content that you wouldn’t be surprised to find on Youtube as well.
Taobao
An online shopping site, much like Amazon or Ebay. Though I haven’t had much personal experience with the service, many of my family members have used it, and the most common piece of information that I have picked up over time is that it often offers discounts and deals that one rarely gets on sites like Amazon and Ebay.