This week we catch up with Dutch sinologist Manya Koetse, the creator of "What's on Weibo)," a platform offering in-depth insights into trends, events, memes, and social phenomena on Weibo, one of China's largest social media platforms, often dubbed the "Chinese Twitter."
As a bridge for non-Chinese-speaking audiences to understand the dynamics of Chinese digital culture, "What's on Weibo" has evolved over the years, recently expanding to include a premium newsletter while maintaining its mission to decode Chinese social media for a global audience.
Manya explains Weibo's place in the increasingly fragmented Chinese online environment, and the evolving gender and class demographics of Weibo alongside other platforms such as Bilibili, WeChat, and Xiaohongshu (Red Book). Manya also talks about how Weibo functions as a social barometer of the changing waves of Chinese nationalism, commercialism, social unrest and anti-Western sentiment.
