Microblog is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links".
The earliest and the most famous microblog is Twitter in U.S. As of January,2010, Twitter has more than 75 million registered users worldwide. In August, 2009, Sina, the biggest portal in China, launched "Sina weibo" private beta, firstly introducing the microblog to the Chinese netizens.
I have used Sina Weibo for more than one year, and when I came to U.S this summer, I also registered on Twitter. However, after comparison, I feel that Weibo has stronger functions than Twitter, though Weibo initially learned a lot from Twitter. No offence.
About comments:
Sina Weibo provides two choices for users to comment: you can comment directly to others' messages, or click " retweet at the same time" when leaving the comment on others' twitters . Therefore, an entire discussion around a specific entry can be seen in one place. The interface of Weibo is more like Facebook. On Twitter, the replies and comments appear independently in the feed, so your comments could not be noticed on others' timeline, and others whom you don't wanna to see the comment would notice it easily. |
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About retweeting
Sina Weibo allows users to retweet the original content with extra 140 characters. Also, you could @ people and choose to "add the comment to the writer at the same time" while retweeting. Twitter does not have such settings. In contrast, Weibo could retweet more contents.
About multimedia
The weibo offers a more convenient and direct solution when sharing pictures and videos. The visual attachments can easily be viewed without leaving the weibo page. The twitter is only made up with words and links. So, weibo is more like the micro media.
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Ah~ A fresh post! Actually I have been thinking the difference between Weibo and its american conterpart. I agree with you on those differences in comment, RT and multimedia performances. In addition, compared with Twitter, Sina Weibo is much more like a social network, intead of social network. Because Sina Weibo integrates nearly all functions on facebook which help people to easily maintain relationships online, allow people to talk like IM within the Weibo page, and recommend friends for users. Like what Tencent did to OICQ, Sina Weibo is localizing the Microblog, and creating a more user-friendly service for picky Chinese netizens.
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