Survey: College students closely following social media influencers

Almost 40 percent of Chinese college students follow social media influencers, with 8 percent checking for updates on a daily basis, according to a report released Tuesday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Blue Book of China's Society 2018 said influencers in the fields of video games and beauty have the most followers among students born after 1994, accounting for 41 and 31 percent respectively.

The findings were based on a survey of 10,732 students at 17 colleges nationwide in 2017 and 2018. 48 percent were male.

The report said 62 percent of male students follow gamers, while 19 percent are sports fans and 16 percent follow tech leaders.

Female students mostly follow beauticians (55 percent), gourmets (38 percent) and shopping experts (23.2 percent).