Social networking alternatives in China, expanding globally

More than 3 billion people worldwide use social networks every month, and nine out of ten users access their chosen platforms via mobile devices.

The world of social networks has Facebook as the ruler, with 2.234 billion monthly active users. Just behind we have YouTube and WhatsApp (1.5 billion both), Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion), WeChat (1.04 billion), and Instagram (1 billion).

In today’s article, we’ll share with you some social networks, most of them unknown to users in the Western world, which have been gradually emerging with strength and to compete with the traditional networks. We describe several of these platforms below.

Douyin/TikTok

As you may guess, Douyin is the Chinese name for what we know as TikTok, Tik Tok’s origins date back to 2016 in China. In the beginning, it was an application to edit short videos and publish them by adding music to them. But it gradually gained popularity, and that’s when its massive growth was inevitable.

The boom of this application is due to the practical and fun format it offers. So much so, that it has conquered all generations, not only younger audiences. This has contributed to the brand logo being positioned for different groups of people, regardless of their age. It has a hooking element that makes its users addicted to this social network or at least a good part of them.

QZone

QZone, is a Chinese social network created in 2005 by Tencent, the Chinese portal that owns the world’s largest instant messaging service QQ.

This is the online portal of the Asian nation because of the demographic density, competing with other global networks like Facebook.

Main features of Qzone

• Allows you to write blogs, and digital diaries, send and host photos, music, etc.
• Total customization by the user
• Most of its services offered are not free, although there is the possibility of acquiring a certain “membership” called Canary Yellow Diamond that allows access to almost all of its applications.
• It does not require real identities.
• Instant messaging chat, which has up to 50k million users connected online every day.
• It is very popular among young teenagers and in rural areas.

Sina Weibo

It is the largest network in China, comparable to Twitter. It is used for sending comments and text messages, uploading videos and photos, etc. It is also possible to stream in real time (this functionality registered an 80% increase in use last year) and post stories of a specific duration.

QQmail

The network was created a few years before Facebook did and today you can participate in online games, send and receive emails and large files, show and stream Snapchat-style videos and movies, and join networks of people with common interests.

You can also listen to and watch live music streaming, match a friend through qq’s dating system and share with friends through qzone, a Facebook-like channel, and check your posts in the news feed.

QQmail network growth

QQ has just over 800 million users: Owned by Tencent Group, owner of WeChat, this social network called QQ currently has about 806 million users each month. It was launched in February 1999, although in its beginnings it was called OICQ and its function was more similar to an instant messaging service.

Over time it was renamed QQmail and in 2009 it increased its social mass, offering the service of its social network Pengyou. It is easily recognized by its logo with a penguin wearing a red scarf. Questioned for excessive surveillance of the content posted, the truth is that QQ has registered users in 80 countries and offers video calls, voice chats, and rich text messaging.