The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Weibo

China’s Weibo suffers sharp contraction as 28m users depart

Author

By John Glenday, Reporter

January 20, 2014 | 1 min read

China’s answer to Twitter, Weibo, has suffered a surprise fall in user numbers according to a government report indicating that 28m users have left.

The decline coincides with a crackdown on so-called ‘rumour mongers’ by the Chinese state, with many top micro bloggers, such as Charles Xu, either arrested or jailed - forcing many to jump ship to mobile messaging platforms which offer greater privacy.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center Weibo traffic dropped 9 per cent in 2013 – whilst mobile messaging platforms such as WeChat skyrocketed to more than 78.6m registered users.

One Weibo user, awxiang, lamented: "It just isn't the same anymore, so I'm not surprised," awxiang. "It is not safe anymore, so it is time for everyone to move say goodbye to Weibo."

Weibo

More from Weibo

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +