“For the first time in history, Chinese internet users have produced more content than professional websites…personal users on blogs, online forums, social networking sites (SNS) and question answers exceeded the amount contributed by professional organizations in news, search engine and e-commerce” (China Daily, 2010).

At a surface level, the information of Chinese netizens accounting for 50.7% of content online should not come as too much of a surprise given that China is booming in both population and rate of internet adoption; however, as we reach the end of our first 21stCentury decade and head into the next, a clear sense of pace has been set with China taking charge, at least as far as online is concerned.

How Many Bloggers in China?

At present, about half of all Chinese internet users are bloggers with 55% being students and 96.6% of all bloggers in June 2009 being readers themselves. What we find particularly interesting is that Chinese social networking services include a 'personal blog' as a feature within a feature, this could imply that the popularity of SNS in China will continue to nurture a nation of influential bloggers because of the feedback loop.

Trust is in the Masses:

A notable proportion of user generated content from online social media is sentimental (communication with friends etc); however, this is no less valuable than the news published on a professional website. For example, consumer purchasing decisions are largely informed by other netizens with 81% of BBS/blog users checking internet word-of-mouth before making the final purchasing decision (China International Business; Cohen, 2010). There is influence & trust in the masses which is why social media is so strong in China; it is a social mouthpiece where everyone is listening in on the conversation.