All Hail the Queen of Weibo

She may not be China’s most famous movie star， but she is indisputably the country’s top dog when it comes to microblogging. With over 17 million fans on Sina Weibo (a leading Chinese microblogging service)， the 32-year-old actress is among the world’s top three microbloggers， just behind Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber on Twitter. She is Yao Chen (姚晨)， more commonly known in China as the “Weibo Queen” (微博女王 W8ib5 n)w1ng). Yao Chen’s rise to online supremacy was no accident. Among the chief itches her Weibo scratches is the public’s ever-growing curiosity about celebrities’ private lives—something that Yao provides in spades， with posts that detail everything from a homemade New Year’s meal to pictures of her darling cat， even pictures of the mess in her living room. But the actress’ Weibo is more than a peek into her world—it’s a platform that she uses to comment on the latest news and call attention to issues ranging from earthquake orphans to farmers’ problems selling potatoes. Whatever she posts is always commented on and forwarded by hundreds if not thousands of fans.

Why is her Weibo so popular? To understand her appeal， we arranged an exclusive interview with Yao Chen， China’s number one microblogger.

A: There was no special reason. Two years ago， a friend of mine who worked at Sina opened a Weibo account for me. Back then， the service was in the last stages of internal testing and I was among the first few people who got to try it out.

A: I still keep the habit of reading comments from my fans， though not all of them. But this way， I can get feedback and see how they’re responding， since sometimes I’m worried I might have said something wrong or inappropriate. In that case， I’ll delete whatever readers object to immediately.(Recently， Yao Chen forwarded a post written by a Chinese mainland film director arguing with a Hong Kong resident about the improper behavior of mainland tourists in Hong Kong. She later deleted the comment to avoid misunderstandings by netizens).

The encouragement from the fans fuels me with “positive energy，” but sometimes I’ll also argue with a few of them. I won’t “@” the guy to expose his or her Weibo ID， but will limit the argument to the two of us. Otherwise， more fans might jump in and criticize without thinking， and that’s not fair to the person involved.(Once a fan left a comment below a photo Yao Chen posted of her cat， noting how ugly the cat was. Outraged， Yao shot back， “You look no better!” and immediately blocked the person from replying).

However， in some cases， I feel it’s necessary to get everyone talking about an issue around the same table. For example， I discussed how to solve the problem of the inadequacy of Beijing cabs with the chief editor at The Global Times (while the editor argued to raise the taxi fee， Yao suggested reducing the monthly contract fee taxi drivers have to pay their company).

A: The number keeps growing. It just surpassed 17 million? I hadn’t noticed! Frankly speaking， I don’t pay particular attention to my rank， but remind myself to be more prudent and take the trust my fans put in me carefully and seriously. So rather than glorifying or exaggerating facts， I try my best to voice objective opinions and spread news impartially. So far， I haven’t said anything I didn’t mean， but there were occasions when I didn’t know what to say. In those cases， I simply say nothing. Sometimes， my words fail to convey my ideas properly. (Jokingly) Anyway， I’m not an intellectual.

A: I hadn’t even started “weaving” (織 zh～) my Weibo when they first contacted me. In fact， I was not the only candidate on their shortlist. Two other candidates before me declined the offer， probably due to their lack of knowledge about the organization. At that time， I myself had no idea what the refugee agency does since there was widespread confusion over the difference between refugees and disaster victims. Some still don’t understand my decision. People have asked me， “There are so many causes you could get involved in: feeding the hungry， women rights or protecting children. Why refugees?” I have to say， it was a mutual choice: they chose me and I chose them. The more I got involved， the deeper feelings I developed toward those refugees. It is the sense of being needed.

This year， I’m super happy to learn that the UN Refugee Agency ranks fourth on Baidu’s annual summary of the top-10 searches regarding public welfare. As soon as I heard the news， I “@”ed everyone on our team who visited the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand with me to share my excitement. Weibo has definitely played a key role in spreading news about refugees and raising awareness of the group. It was especially rewarding for me to discover that many mainland residents started to donate money to the Hong Kong Refugee Agency shortly after I posted about the predicament of refugees in the Somali Republic. The staff said they have never received donations from mainland residents before.

A: We will go to Ethiopia this March; that’s the latest plan. There’s still a lot more to do. But as you eat a bowl of rice bite by bite， little by little we’ll endeavor to progress. As the saying goes， it’s impossible to put on weight if you eat just a single morsel. (一口吃不成胖子 y# k6u ch～buch9ng p3ngzi， equivalent to the English saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”)

A: There’s a good reason for Weibo to exist—it serves as a platform for people to take practical actions and give help to those who need it. Recently， I forwarded a post about a father selling haircut coupons on Taobao so that he could afford medical treatment for his daughter， who suffers from leukemia. Whoever bought the coupons could swap them for a haircut in his barber shop. The father wanted to accept donations with dignity (rather than just ask for money directly). The news spread like wildfire on Weibo and many have lent a hand to the father and his girl. (Yao Chen later updated her post， calling for medical treatment to be made affordable for everyone).

A: Of course. Sometimes I feel frustrated when people doubt my sincerity or intentions. Take the above incident for example. Immediately after I made an appeal for public help and promised I would buy 500 haircut coupons， someone checked Taobao and asked me， “You said you’d buy the coupons， so why is there no record of the transaction?” I mean， can’t you just give me a chance to pay? To dispel any doubts， I borrowed my friend’s Taobao account and paid right away. Still， the incident somewhat dampened my enthusiasm. How does the saying go? “You’ll get shot even when you’re lying down.” (躺著也會中槍t2ngzhe y0 hu# zh7ng qi`ng.) But I believe time will tell. If I was really a person who selfishly grabbed everything for myself， it would only take the public a couple months to figure out. Also， I feel it would be such a waste of time to constantly clarify. What I need to do is be myself… I doubt that the people who were questioning me would donate themselves， but I admit that it’s imperative for domestic charitable organizations to work out a system of accepting donations that people can trust… Donators should be respected， not interrogated. Luckily， the UN Refugee Agency has a set of strict protocol that ensures that money the public donates is used in the right way.

A: Nothing special. Like most people， I use Weibo to record my daily life， whenever I have something to say or to share. I also forward interesting posts and browse what my friends are saying.

(Most of her friends on Weibo are actors and actresses， media workers and public intellectuals).

A: It’s a trend of our times and Weibo is a product derived from that trend. I know that some of my friends also use Weibo as a platform to express their concerns about public welfare. This helps build our sense of being public figures and citizens of this country. We need to get our voices heard and catch public attention before actions can be taken and goals achieved.

有人說：好好演你的戲，別在這假裝公知！呵呵，“公知”這帽子太奢華，我真配不上，“公民”這外套我還是穿得起的。說白了，我就是一遇事會有反應的大活人而已，有的人不必太緊張哈。

Someone once warned me， “Mind your own business. Don’t pretend to be a public intellectual!” Indeed， the hat of “public intellectual” is a bit too fancy for me， it really wouldn’t fit. But a regular citizen’s jacket， that’s something I could afford. Frankly speaking， I’m nothing more than a living person reacting to what’s going on around me. So people don’t need to get so nervous. (Feb. 2， 2012)

A: I gained a better understanding of the profession through the role. It also affected my way of thinking. Now， whenever I say something， I try to be as objective and impartial as possible. Also， I won’t forward news—say something that appeals for help or complains about unfair treatment—without verifying it， as I did before; now I’ll be careful to make sure it’s true. Nevertheless， what I’m doing on Weibo is a far cry from the job of real reporters， who rush to the scene and investigate the facts in-depth， sometimes in dangerous circumstances. After all， I’m an actress， so I hope to find a balance between Weibo and my professional identity.

A: It’s probably that I dare to express myself and be myself， not what others expect me to be. I think it’d be better if everyone on Weibo did the same. Actually， from the very start， I thought of Weibo as a platform where I could share beautiful， positive and warm stories in a mild and objective voice， and avoid excessive emotional sentiments that would blind others from seeing the facts. I have to be cautious though， because even if I don’t intentionally lead opinions， my opinions might affect the judgment of others.