For many Internet users in China, instant messaging via QQ is one of the first experiences they have online. As a result, Tencent’s trademark instant messaging brand QQ is home to an estimated 341 million active users and 80% of the market.
While IM-ing has traditionally been one of the most frequently used applications online, David Feng points out a growing trend among Chinese netizens to log-on as invisible. An online IT forum explains the reasons why:
- Whenever people find their friends on an IM app, they think they’re forced to greet everyone on the list
- As is increasingly the case in the Chinese workplace, more and more people are getting introvert — they don’t open their hearts out, so why do this on the Web?
- People hide because they feel too tired or lazy
- People have nothing to say
- Users greet each other, and then — what’s next? More often than not, people feel even more lonely after being greeted online
techblog86: The Mass Invisible-ization of QQ Users: Why The Masses Choose To Be Invisible
Related PSFK Article:
QQ, China’s Largest Social Networking Site, Raking in the Dough
