6 international celebrities you didn’t know were on Chinese social network Sina Weibo

While mobile messaging app WeChat is the fastest growing social media platform in China, when it comes to following movers and shakers in China, Sina Weibo remains the place to be (though this could change). With over 500 million registered users (over 45 million of which are active), the network remains a hotbed for discussions about the cultural zeitgeist.

Now, with China making up the world’s biggest overseas market for entertainment like the NBA and Hollywood movies, some public figures are setting up Sina Weibo accounts as a means to cement their online presence in the country. Sometimes these accounts will receive attention from international media when first established, but TiA was curious to see how these accounts were actually managed on a day-to-day basis. After all, maintaining a cross-cultural social media presence is no easy feat. While trying to drive engagement, one must factor in language barriers, cultural differences, and social media etiquette.

Below you’ll find a few celebrity Sina Weibo accounts that make for interesting case studies in cross-cultural social media in China.

Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne’s Weibo account is one of many managed by Fanstang, a California-based marketing firm specializing in Chinese social media strategies for international celebrities. Clients include Robert Downey Jr., Paris Hilton, Jason Mraz, and countless others. The company recently announced that it reached 50 million followers across its various accounts.

Fanstang accounts tend to stick to a formula and Lavigne’s account follows it to the T. For the most part, all posts are taken directly from the singer’s Twitter account (it’s not 100% clear of Lavigne or a PR rep is behind it), and original English is pasted along with a Chinese translation. Content is copied and pasted word-for-word, which means that sometimes texts gets cut off with ellipses.

Fanstang plants its name and URL at the top of each of its accounts, so it’s transparent in telling users that it’s acting as a third-party go-between. But the occasional China-related post pops up, ensuring domestic followers that Lavigne counts them among her fans.

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise’s Weibo lacks the cookie-cutter format of most Fanstang celebrity Weibo pages, but it’s nevertheless managed by a PR team, likely the same team that manages his Twitter page. Surprisingly, Cruise has more followers on Weibo than on Twitter  – 5.4 million followers on the former, 4.2 million followers on the latter.

Emma Watson

Mike Tyson

Samuel L. Jackson

Radiohead

Neil Bush

Crossing virtual borders