The four major portals are fiercely competing with Weibo, and 360 claims that Sina Weibo will颠覆Tencent. (Note: "颠覆" can be translated as "upend" or "overthrow," but the context might suggest a less aggressive term like "challenge" or "outcompete." Here's an alternative translation:) The four major portals are fiercely competing with Weibo, and 360 claims that Sina Weibo will challenge Tencent.

Rednet Beijing News (Rolling Reporter Li Wei of the Morning Post) - Weibo and group-buying became two key words in 2010, while the four major portals' determination to compete fiercely on Weibo surprised people as to how significant Weibo was for portal sites. In response, Chairman and CEO of Sohu, Charles Zhang, said in a special interview with the Morning Post's rolling reporter on the 20th in Beijing that if the battle of Weibo wasn't fought, the media value of portals would be greatly threatened. The birth of Weibo has caused a great change in the channels of information dissemination; therefore, Weibo is very meaningful for portal media. If we don't fight this battle of Weibo, our media will be under great threat. Several reasons have made it necessary for us to do Weibo," said Zhang Chaoyang.

Weibo is considered to become a strong channel for netizens to absorb information daily, and it is gradually changing people's entertainment methods, becoming a powerful carrier that influences netizens' lives, reflects the media dissemination channels, and demonstrates influence. Zhang Chaoyang personally led the charge in Weibo development. Zhang Chaoyang, who candidly admitted losing the first-mover advantage in the Weibo domain, spared no effort to lead the Weibo charge personally. In the eyes of this digital hero, the significance of Weibo had been infinitely magnified. An important development in the internet in 2010 was the popularity of Weibo. Weibo has transformed my communication with the world into an uninterrupted stream of information. Eventually, all humanity will be woven into this omnipotent Weibo," Zhang Chaoyang remarked.

Zhang Chaoyang also mentioned that Weibo itself is a form of SNS (social networking service), and the emergence of this model means that the global internet is transitioning from organizing and searching for information to organizing people. Zhang Chaoyang gave an example: the hottest social networking site globally, Facebook (translated as "face spectrum"), has particularly strong user flow, which makes its impact on the media very significant. Therefore, it is very important for portal sites to do Weibo. First, the content is generated by users. Secondly, many people can obtain a lot of information by staying on Weibo. This information is not given by editors but recommended by friends they follow. This causes a great change in the channels of information dissemination.

However, when talking about the influence of portal Weibo, Zhang Chaoyang frankly admitted that Sina, which entered this market earliest, undoubtedly held an absolute advantageous position. It was reported that the valuation of Sina Weibo had reached several billion US dollars, and Sina had already started independently splitting the Weibo product with plans for an IPO. Regarding this direct competitive relationship with Sina, Zhang Chaoyang believed that Weibo in China was still at a starting stage. Many people had not yet begun using this product. Once ordinary netizens began paying attention to Weibo and using it, the scale effect of such a platform would emerge, thereby leading to good profit models.

The Four Major Portals Compete Fiercely Over Weibo

In August 2009, Sina launched Weibo services domestically. After 14 months, in October 2010, the number of registered users on Sina Weibo exceeded 50 million, while it took Twitter (translated as "Tui Te") three years to reach this scale. Currently, Twitter only spreads based on text, whereas the Weibos of the four domestic portals can spread based on multimedia, allowing users to comment and forward comments, making them more interactive.

Last year, including Sina, NetEase, Sohu, and Tencent, all four major portals invested heavily in Weibo development, competing openly or covertly. Around the world, there are both powerful portals and powerful social media platforms, but Sina is unique in simultaneously owning a successful portal and a strong social media platform. David Chao, CEO and President of Sina, personally served as the general manager of Sina Weibo and maintained a clear advantage in the Weibo field. David Chao believed that Weibo represented the trend of internet development, being a perfect combination of mobile terminals and social networks, and one of the killer applications in the era of mobile internet.

At the beginning of the year, NetEase Weibo launched the i Talent Plan, distinct from the celebrity strategy. "Weibo is NetEase's focus in 2011," said NetEase's leader, Ding Lei. With abundant financial resources, Tencent has always coveted the status of China's top portal. In terms of Weibo, Tencent's leader, Pony Ma, spared no expense. It was reported that Tencent Weibo would open up its Weibo API (application programming interface) to share the value of its hundreds of millions of QQ users with various internet application service providers.

360 Chairman Hongyi Zhou predicted that in 2011, China's internet would witness three major battles: Weibo, e-commerce, and SNS. He joked that last year, Zhang Chaoyang, who was focusing on search engines, and Pony Ma, who was contending with 360, were misled, while the experienced David Chao quietly pushed Sina Weibo to its peak. If Sina opens up, it could likely become a basic communication tool. Zhou Hongyi said, "Perhaps Pony Ma has realized now that what disrupts Tencent is actually Sina Weibo."

Related Links: Zhang Chaoyang Criticizes China's Sole Wealth-Oriented Social Values

On January 20th, during the 2011 Sohu New Perspective High-Level Forum, Zhang Chaoyang expressed his concerns about China's future amidst the rapid rise of wealth figures. Scholars attending the forum appealed that as a naturally large country, China should transition from wealth growth to civilizational growth, setting an example for the world.

Every year at this time, I want to step out of the IT field, write something, and make macro-level remarks on the economy, society, politics, etc. However, this year, I don't plan to do so for several reasons. First, in the past, I felt somewhat urgent, believing that only I saw the direction to make our motherland stronger, eager to speak out and help. There was also a bit of vanity involved, wanting to showcase myself as a thinker. But I found that there are numerous professional political scholars and thinkers in China whose understanding of issues is much deeper than mine, so there's no need for me to talk. Moreover, the answers to problems are becoming increasingly simple and clear, and societal consensus is becoming more consistent.

For the past three years, Zhang Chaoyang has hosted the annual New Perspective High-Level Forum at the beginning of each year, providing a venue for academics and industry experts to vent their frustrations and speak truthfully. Two years ago, the theme of the Sohu New Perspective High-Level Forum was "Finding the Age of Innocence." Last year's theme was "China 2049," where Zhang Chaoyang's bold criticism of state advancement over private enterprises earned him much applause. This year, the forum's theme is "Role Models of Wealth," attempting to explore how a wealthy China should redefine its role?

The world is being driven by China's wealth, but a nation's wealth cannot rely on external resources; it should depend on the beliefs and values in people's hearts. On this point, China still needs long-term construction. Zhang Chaoyang wrote in the invitation letter distributed to each participant, "British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who visited China in the 1920s, said that if China could establish a reasonable, healthy social and economic system and lead humanity out of its confusion in science and art, all humanity would thank China with extreme reverence. Now, can we achieve this?" Zhang Chaoyang asked. He called on people to find forces and individuals that could serve as role models beyond material wealth.