 | |
Type of site | microblogging |
|---|---|
| Available in | Chinese: Simplified Chinese Traditional Chinese |
| Owner | SINA Corporation |
| URL | weibo |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Chinese | 新浪微博 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Literal meaning | Sina microblogging | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Sina Weibo (Chinese: 新浪微博; pinyin: Xīnlàng Wēibó; lit. 'Sina microblogging') is a Chinese microblogging site. Akin to a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, it is one of the most popular sites in China, in use by 90% of the market.[1] It was launched by SINA Corporation in August 2009[2], and now has more than 140 million users. [3]
Naming
"Weibo" (微博) is the Chinese word for "microblogging". As the most popular microblogging/Weibo service based in China, Sina tended to use "Weibo" instead of "Sina Weibo" in its own published news in an attempt to build up the brand name of "Weibo". It has launched its new domain weibo.com on April 7, 2011, deactivating and redirecting the old domain name, t.sina.com.cn to the new one. However in China, there are many other microblogging/Weibo services like Tencent Weibo and NetEase Weibo.
Popularity
According to iResearch[4], Sina Weibo has 56.5% of the microblogging market based on active users and 86.6% based on browsing time over competitors such as Tencent and Baidu. Sina has said it has more than 60,000 verified accounts, consisting of celebrities, sports stars and other VIPs. The top 100 users now have over 180 million followers combined. Furthermore, Sina said that more than 5,000 companies and 2,700 media organizations in China are currently using Sina Weibo. The site is maintained by a growing microblogging department of 200 employees responsible for technology, design, operations, and marketing.[5]
Livery Airplane
On June 8, 2011, Tianjin Airlines unveiled an Embraer E-190 jet in special Sina Weibo livery and named it "Sina Weibo Hao" (新浪微博号). It is the first commercial airplane to be named after a website in China. [6]
International
The site is currently available in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters.[note 1] There is also a Taiwanese version[7], and information on switching writing systems[8]
The site also has versions catered to users from Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.[note 2]
Services
Weilingdi (微领地) is another service bundled with Weibo that is similar to Foursquare, a location-based social networking website based on software for mobile devices. In addition, Sina Lady Weibo (新浪女性微博) is another service, which specializes in women's interests.
Sina also produces mobile applications for Android[9][10], Blackberry OS[11], iOS[12][13], Symbian S60[14], Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7[15]
Notes
References
- ^ Forbes, "China's Weibo versus Twitter And The Winner Is", May 18, 2011
- ^ CNET Asia Blogs, Sinobytes by Steven Millward, "Sina's Twitter-esque microblogging site: A closer look", Sep 18, 2009 22:09
- ^ ChinaTimes, "Sina poised to expand Weibo's footprint", 05/14/2011
- ^ iResearch, "Sina Commands 56% of China’s Microblog Market
- ^ MarketWatch, Caixin Online, Sina's microblogging power, July 4, 2010, 8:26 p.m. EDT
- ^ "新浪微博号彩绘飞机亮相".
- ^ Taiwanese version of the site
- ^ How to switch writing systems at any time on Weibo.
- ^ Weibo client for Android phones
- ^ Weibo client for Android tablets
- ^ Weibo client for Blackberry
- ^ Weibo client for iPhone and iPod touch
- ^ Weibo client for iPad
- ^ Weibo client for Symbian S60
- ^ Weibo client for Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 devices
External links
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