The Future of Social Media in China: WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin’s Role

SHERAZUR RAHMAN#

We are connected to platforms like Google, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Twitter to engage with social media around the world. We essentially use multiple apps through the internet for both general communication and commercial purposes. The positive use of these platforms has become an integral part of technological and economic development today.

However, it is clear that China, the world’s second-largest economic powerhouse with a population of about 1.42 billion, does not have access to social media and apps in the same way that the United States and the Western world do. This does not mean that it is completely isolated from the rest of the world.

China has developed its own social media platforms as part of its strategy to create an internet ecosystem that operates within its regulatory and cultural environment. These platforms, such as WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin, are designed to cater to the Chinese audience, with a strong focus on local content and features that align with government regulations.

WeChat: Initially launched as a messaging app, WeChat has evolved into a multi-purpose platform, including social networking, e-commerce, payment services, news, and entertainment, among other things. It is the most widely used app in China, with over a billion monthly active users.

Weibo: Often compared to Twitter, Weibo allows users to post microblog-style content, share images, and interact through comments and likes. It has been a major platform for celebrities, influencers, and businesses in China.

Douyin: This is the Chinese version of TikTok, which, like its international counterpart, focuses on short-form videos. Douyin is hugely popular in China and offers e-commerce integration, live streaming, and advanced video editing tools.

In fact, although the current Xi Jinping government has banned Western social media and apps to protect its online platform, it is making incredible progress in scientific and technological development by utilizing its own capabilities. The people of China now use Baidu instead of Google, YouChat instead of WhatsApp, Bilibili instead of YouTube, Weibo instead of Twitter, and various other domestically developed social apps and media.

Moreover, many may not know that TikTok, the most popular social app in the world, was developed in China. China’s new technological innovations, creative ideas, and powerful social platforms often remain beyond our imagination. The current Xi Jinping government invests the second-most money in the world, after the United States, to advance the country’s scientific and technological development, as well as research.

Today, the country has transformed its higher education institutions into industrial hubs for fostering innovative ideas and technological development. It has effectively realized these benefits and challenged the entire Western world to enter a new era. Despite the ongoing trade war with the United States, China now controls nearly 38% of global trade and the economy, which is quite surprising.

It is true that a country like China has its own social media, which comes with advantages as well as disadvantages and shortcomings. In particular, there are concerns about excessive government surveillance of ordinary citizens, the loss of privacy regarding personal information, and the use of state-controlled social media to suppress dissent.

Although the deployment of its own social media and satellite networking systems is a sign of technological excellence for an emerging country like China, there is no way to avoid these complex issues. Nevertheless, one cannot ignore the limitations and must question the nature of China’s technological revolution alongside its strong economic development.