What made him anxious was that to run a Weibo account, he needed writers who understood marketing and were aware of the importance of seizing topics and catching hotspots in a timely manner. Talents with these skills were too few and far between. For days, he had been looking for suitable candidates but without success. He hoped to meet like-minded classmates in the ivory tower.
Attached to big accounts, his fan base increased by 350,000 over five months.
On May 20th, it was the "Internet Valentine's Day" for netizens. On this day, Zhao Cheng provided fans with a classic two-step plan, each step achieving great success.
Don't be fooled; although "Qiu Jun" Zhao Cheng laughed and joked with reporters, last year he was still a shy and introverted young man. "I didn't talk in class, didn't communicate with classmates, played Weibo without telling them, and now only a few classmates know." However, running a Weibo account required interaction with people, dealing face-to-face with strangers, and meeting other bloggers from afar. This forced Zhao Cheng to go out and start talking. Now, classmates all say he has changed into a different person, almost unrecognizable.
At 6:10 PM on June 21st, a post appeared on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia": "Ye Feng, Cong Rong, Chu Tiange, Mai Yunjie, Gai Shilai, Zhu Lili, Dongdong, Shuangqi & Shuangqi, Mei Junyan, Mr. Leng, Mr. Lang, OPEN Band, 'My Stage,' 'Dreams Are So Sweet,' 'Telepathy,' 'Embrace Miracle,' 'Nothing Is Impossible,' 'Wind Over Ear'... That year's 'I Am The King Of Songs,' those year's dreams, that year's us... Do you all still remember? I truly miss the youth of that time..."
After the excitement subsided, Zhao Cheng summarized again: one must seize the hotspot topic at the first moment. He often went online to find various interesting materials. Once he saw something, he would forward it without hesitation, definitely succeeding.
At 10:22 PM on May 4th, Zhao Cheng posted a Weibo: "A game of daring adventures seen on Tieba: write down your mobile phone number and see if anyone will say goodnight to you. If you want to play, just play. If someone doesn't like it, they can ignore it. Below begins the game. Just leave your mobile phone number and see if anyone will say goodnight to you every day."
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Nostalgia is a common theme on Weibo. Zhao Cheng also took advantage of this. However, "unlike most adults who reminisce, my fans are mostly post-80s and post-90s, so where does their nostalgia lie?" He chose an animated series watched by the majority of his peers.
To take care of this "child," Zhao Cheng devoted a significant portion of his time during the second half of his senior year of high school, sometimes even during class. "Every day's content must be different. I must constantly search for fresh material. While others play games, shop, chat online, or engage in extracurricular activities, I search for materials. Besides finding jokes, sometimes I have to rewrite them and pair them with images to enhance their appeal. Almost every post is accompanied by an image, which consumes a lot of energy."
The most attractive element ultimately lies in the content. During that time, Zhao Cheng produced many masterpieces, with several Weibo posts being forwarded over ten thousand times. On April 17th, he posted a Weibo: After compiling selected episodes of Pleasant Goat and Big Wolf, Big Gray Wolf was hit 9,544 times by Red Wolf's frying pan, teased 2,347 times by Pleasant Goat, chased 769 times by piranhas, electrocuted 1,755 times, devised 2,788 ways to catch goats, ran 19,658 times, leaving footprints that could circle the Earth 954 times, and still hasn't caught a single goat, but he hasn't given up...
"Relying on big accounts isn't sustainable in the long term. To sustain the vitality of Weibo, the method of increasing followers should change." Zhao Cheng pondered that the relatively fixed fan bases of the big accounts he usually relied on limited the attention to "Embarrassing Encyclopedia." Could the strategy be shifted?
With his own efforts, Zhao Cheng turned "Internet Valentine's Day" into a "Declaration Festival." Taking advantage of the momentum, Zhao Cheng posted another Weibo on May 21st, the content being: I still love such a "520"... The accompanying image was a "520" formed by the numbers on 50 yuan, 20 yuan, and 100 yuan Renminbi notes. As a result, fans still immersed in the previous day's "Declaration Festival" forwarded it more than 20,000 times, once again making it into the top three of Sina Weibo's popular retweet list.
Yesterday, at the age of nineteen, standing at 1.84 meters tall, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and exuding a refined aura, "Qiu Jun" sat before the reporter. This formerly extremely introverted boy, whose personality changed due to Weibo, talked for two hours, revealing maturity beyond his years.
In early September last year, professional Weibo writers were scarce. Thanks to the crazy retweets by "big accounts," Sina Weibo was often filled with Zhao Cheng's original drafts, with retweets frequently exceeding ten thousand times, often entering the top three of the Weibo retweet list, quickly expanding his influence on Weibo.
"With such considerations, determined to make 'Embarrassing Encyclopedia' bigger, Zhao Cheng began thinking about new operations. By the end of the year, my followers need to break one million. The pressure isn't small, but after starting university, time will be tight. It can't rely solely on personal efforts; a team must be organized with division of labor and overall planning." Zhao Cheng's research found that most of the "big accounts" among Sina's grassroots currently have a team behind them. With future competition intensifying, individual strength cannot compete with collective power.
"Playing with Weibo, Weibo plays with you. Weibo decorates your life, and you decorate others' dreams." Devoted to building his Weibo territory, Zhao Cheng gained some understanding of the Weibo world. He told the reporter that among Sina's top 100 grassroots Weibo accounts, about half have been "recruited," belonging to the "Fujian clique," "Beijing clique," and "Yangzhou clique." He also faces choices.
Regarding whether to give interviews, Zhao Cheng's parents remained silent. "They let me decide myself. Before, they thought I was neglecting my studies, but now they support me, though they don't understand exactly what I'm doing." During the two-hour interaction, the reporter found that Zhao Cheng, though a high school graduate, was very conscious of his image, considering angles when taking photos, caring about whether one side of his hairstyle was a bit low, revealing a bit of eccentricity.
Zhao Cheng has interacted with most of the top bloggers among Sina's grassroots Weibo top 100, familiar with many, and has his own opinions about their fates. He doesn't want to be "recruited." "I've met representatives from the upper echelons of the three cliques, and they have intentions to recruit me." But Zhao Cheng believes that while being recruited might make him bigger, he would become someone else's money-making machine, losing his original ideals. It would be better to remain an "individual operator," free and independent.
This young man
This Weibo post alone was retweeted more than 10,000 times on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia," including by "Weibo Queen" Yao Chen, who commented, "To be a person, be like Big Gray Wolf." "I've been retweeted by her three times, how lucky!"
Most commenters were middle and high school students, expressing their feelings and nostalgia for the animation series "I Am The King Of Songs," which left beautiful memories from elementary school and childhood. Fans were surprised when follower "Yang Long yl" revealed: "I am the real-life version of the blond kid in the middle! Nostalgia for those pure times..."
Fans immediately embraced it. "Gu Shengsheng" said, "Chu Tiange and Mai Yunjie~ Thinking about them now still makes me blush >< I really liked Mai Yunjie~" Fan "Tian Yin 17" said, "I watched it in elementary school, and I loved it super much, always feeling it was China's best anime."
Staring at Sina's grassroots Weibo rankings, after careful consideration, Zhao Cheng identified a few corporate Weibo accounts as potential partners. "These Weibo accounts are similar to mine, with 200,000 to 400,000 followers. Companies need to leverage the influence of Weibo, and I need their followers. Quickly reaching mutual agreement, they post, I retweet, and vice versa, thus attracting each other's followers."
Afterward, statistics showed that this adventure game alone attracted over 12,600 participants on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia," exchanging phone numbers. Including those retweeted by other "big accounts," the numbers were incalculable.
"I'm a bit greedy, submitting multiple drafts to several big accounts." Zhao Cheng said, coincidentally, during that period, these "big accounts" were also in rapid growth phases, needing high-quality content. His submissions were interesting and met this demand perfectly. By late August, he garnered attention from several "big accounts," who continuously retweeted his posts. Every retweet exposed "Embarrassing Encyclopedia" to these "big accounts," naturally drawing the attention of their followers. They thought this Weibo was good and worth following, leading to more and more "big account" followers also following "Embarrassing Encyclopedia."
The second step was the real move! On May 19th, Zhao Cheng posted another tweet: "On May 20th, I accept all confessions!" The essence of this Weibo post lay in its accompanying picture: a cute cat raising its right fist, as if declaring determination. Unsurprisingly, this Weibo post was retweeted over 38,000 times.
"Actually, there's nothing special. The key to changing one's character is taking those steps, which then builds confidence." Zhao Cheng said that his character changed because of Weibo. During this period, he met many celebrities, with Xiao Shenyang, Ruby Lin, and Li Jinming among his fans. Especially Li Jinming, who became famous for playing Mei Jia in "Love Apartment," occasionally communicated with him, "Her current Weibo profile picture was chosen and recommended by me."
At the end of the interview, Zhao Cheng told the reporter that he participated in this year's Jiangsu college entrance exam, but his score wasn't ideal, and he was now worried about how to fill out his application.
Of course, earning money is also something Zhao Cheng needs to consider. But currently, he values content greatly, and most advertisers are refused. "We can't alienate the fans' hearts by doing advertisements." Only under conditions that do not affect the overall style and quality of Weibo does he accept soft advertisements. Even so, he earns 20,000 yuan per month, enough for him to live comfortably. "If I fully commit, the income would certainly be more, but the fans would also scatter, losing the foundation for survival, which wouldn't be cost-effective."
When the game started, Zhao Cheng received the first text message within a minute, just two words: "Good night!" As he marveled, the first call came—an international call! A South Korean girl answered, saying she found the game fun and wanted to play, then said "Good night." That night, over a thousand text messages and hundreds of calls overwhelmed Zhao Cheng's phone.
The next day, a young man from Nanjing specifically called Zhao Cheng to say "thank you." He said that the previous night, he received six calls and sixty text messages from strangers, making him feel that there were still many strangers who cared about him, giving him more confidence in life.
Passing on knowledge and experience, gaining over 200,000 more followers in four months
Plotting transformation, limited personal strength necessitates teamwork
Zhao Cheng later calculated that these two Weibo posts alone were retweeted 70,000 times on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia," over 30,000 times on "Cold Joke Selection," and other "big accounts," with total retweets exceeding 100,000, successfully occupying the top spot on the Weibo popular retweet list. "That day, as soon as you opened Weibo, it was everywhere."
The first step was warming up. At exactly 11 PM on May 9th, Zhao Cheng posted on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia": "On May 20th, at 1:14 PM, who will say 'I love you' to me? This is a game, dare you to repost it on your Weibo? See who says 'I love you!' See who remembers May 20th, at 1:14 PM, who will remember to say 'I love you,' whether friend, lover, classmate, companion, blue friend, confidant, buddy, brother..."
"As a corporate Weibo, the content is relatively traditional, but fans seeing the humorous and somewhat unconventional 'Embarrassing Encyclopedia' are easily attracted. During that time, 'Embarrassing Encyclopedia' experienced another rapid growth phase, gaining nearly 200,000 followers in April and May this year. However, the increase in followers for the partnering corporate Weibo accounts was far less than his."
Teaching and learning together, gaining over 200,000 more followers in four months
Plotting transformation, limited personal strength necessitates teamwork
Zhao Cheng eventually calculated that these two Weibo posts alone were retweeted 70,000 times on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia," over 30,000 times on "Cold Joke Selection," and other "big accounts," with total retweets exceeding 100,000, successfully occupying the top spot on the Weibo popular retweet list. "That day, as soon as you opened Weibo, it was everywhere."
The first step was warming up. At exactly 11 PM on May 9th, Zhao Cheng posted on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia": "On May 20th, at 1:14 PM, who will say 'I love you' to me? This is a game, dare you to repost it on your Weibo? See who says 'I love you!' See who remembers May 20th, at 1:14 PM, who will remember to say 'I love you,' whether friend, lover, classmate, companion, blue friend, confidant, buddy, brother..."
"As a corporate Weibo, the content is relatively traditional, but fans seeing the humorous and somewhat unconventional 'Embarrassing Encyclopedia' are easily attracted. During that time, 'Embarrassing Encyclopedia' experienced another rapid growth phase, gaining nearly 200,000 followers in April and May this year. However, the increase in followers for the partnering corporate Weibo accounts was far less than his."
This is what Zhao Cheng referred to as "teaching and learning together." By this point, he was almost no longer submitting drafts to those major "big accounts."
As a result, this Weibo post was retweeted over 30,000 times on "Embarrassing Encyclopedia," immediately becoming a hot topic on Sina Weibo.
Changing the official name to a more public-friendly one is one of the secrets to growing a Weibo account. In July last year, Zhao Cheng changed the name to "Embarrassing Encyclopedia," closely aligning with the Weibo content. As a fine arts student, he also carefully selected a set of cute and funny female expressions as the background, with a headshot very similar to himself, which was well-received by fans.
By the Spring Festival this year, "Embarrassing Encyclopedia" had broken through 350,000 followers. "Under normal circumstances, a Weibo account breaking through 300,000 followers, if genuine, already possesses a certain level of influence, not inferior to a medium-sized metropolitan daily newspaper," Zhao Cheng said.
Turning "520" into a "Confession Festival"
How did the 600,000+ followers come about?
Refusing to be "recruited" and remaining an individual operator
Not knowing how to fill out the college application due to unsatisfactory college entrance exam results
It was around this time that Zhao Cheng acutely noticed a bottleneck: the number of new followers was clearly decreasing, with only about a thousand added per day, and only two or three hundred thousand added per month. For an ordinary Weibo account, this was already quite impressive, but for Zhao Cheng, who was determined to grow bigger, it was clearly "not enough."
"Most importantly, risk must be strictly controlled," Zhao Cheng said. Although Weibo content emphasizes entertainment, it must be truthful, not exaggerated, and not vulgar or pornographic. Political lines must never be crossed. "With over 600,000 followers spread across the country and even overseas, the influence is at least equivalent to half of Jiangsu Satellite TV."
This young man
"I opened my Weibo account on March 27th last year, initially named 'Mr. Almost,' purely following the trend, playing along... Then I kept replying to people's comments, and by July, I had over 5,000 followers." Zhao Cheng said that during the summer vacation, he studied the "big accounts" with tens of thousands or even millions of followers, figuring out many tricks. "I just wanted to try raising this child."
"Growing Weibo essentially means attracting more followers. How did he achieve it?"
"Correspondingly, followers grew explosively, with typically three to five thousand added per day, and the highest single-day increase was close to ten thousand. Persistently submitting drafts for five months, my followers grew to 350,000." Talking about that golden period, Zhao Cheng couldn't hide his joy.
In June, busy with preparing for the college entrance exam, Zhao Cheng left "Embarrassing Encyclopedia" untouched for a day or two without posting any Weibos. Although the number of followers exceeded 600,000, he told the reporter that throughout the year, he had done it all alone, often staying up late into the night, feeling overwhelmed. "You need to be responsible to your followers; the content must suit their tastes, with little fluctuation in quality, maintaining a large proportion of original content."
"Most importantly, risks must be strictly controlled." Zhao Cheng said that while Weibo content emphasizes entertainment, it must be truthful, not exaggerated, and not vulgar or pornographic. Political lines must never be crossed. "With over 600,000 followers spread across the country and even overseas, the influence is at least equivalent to half of Jiangsu Satellite TV."
This Weibo post was retweeted 29,800 times, with nearly 4,000 comments, ranking second on the day's Sina Weibo popular retweet list.
"This is just the beginning. To quickly gain genuine followers, a strong reliance must be found, letting it pay attention to you." Zhao Cheng discovered that grassroots Weibo accounts at the time began dividing into power circles, aggressively expanding. He targeted the top few in the grassroots Weibo rankings, continuously submitting drafts hoping to attract the attention of these "big accounts."
Reporters Yu Yingjie