Society

Chinese increasingly use microblogs to get news

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-24 20:27

BEIJING - Microblogs have become a popular way for Chinese to receive the latest news and information, according to a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily newspaper.

The survey had 3,282 respondents from 30 Chinese provinces, regions and municipalities.

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The survey showed that 73.5 percent of respondents use microblogs to get the latest information while 66.6 percent use them to participate in online discussions. Some 52.1 percent of respondents use microblogs to keep in touch with friends.

The survey also showed that 73.7 percent of respondents consider microblogs as an "important" source of news because the information on microblogs is usually distributed quickly and widely.

Ding Jie, an employee of the China International Publishing Group, said she opened a microblog account a month ago. She has found using a microblog to be interesting and useful.

"Now, I do not have to go to news websites because I can get all news I am interested in from other microblogs," Ding said.

The survey revealed that 56.5 percent of respondents "generally believed" information on microblogs while 23.2 percent of respondents were uncertain about the credibility of the information. Some 20.3 percent of respondents thought the information was unreliable.

Prof. Kuang Wenbo of the Journalism School of Renmin University of China was quoted by the China Youth Daily as saying that "microblogs are grassroots media that anyone can publish information upon, making it difficult to judge the veracity of the information."

"Microblogs can only serve as a supplement to traditional media," Kuang said, according to the report.