Recently a series of Baidu "Post Bar" Crushing incidents have attracted our attention as an interesting, if not disturbing representation of Chinese Net Culture. It is important to note that Baidu "Post Bar" is an absolute cultural force online, especially as a host for some of the most active popular singer fan clubs. I discussed this phenomena around "Super Girl" Li Yu Chun in a post last year where singers like Li Yuchun have literally million of messages from fans. Also, for further backdrop on the darker side of net culture, see my post last year about "Internet Manhunts."

"Forum Crushing" refers to netizens using "Forum Crushing Machine" (爆吧机), a software designed to let users continuously post content with different IP address until the forum is overloaded and "crushed."

See below for the full story on the Crushing Machines. It is one article taken from our IWOM Watch August 1-15. See more about these reports here.

Summary
Yang Chenglin, a Taiwanese pop star, has been continuously criticized by mainland China netizens because of her inappropriate comment China’s history (i.e. the anti-Japan war "only" lasted 8 years) made years ago. Soon after the comment resurfaced, on BBB sites, and the resulting netizen uproar (examples here and here), McDonald’s cut Yang from one its TVC's. It seems as if netizens’ rage is continuing.

Recently, her fan forum on Baidu was crushed by netizens using a “Forum Crushing Machine”(爆吧机), a tool which continuously posts content with different IP address until it is overloaded and crushed. (100,000 conversations were posted in Yang’s forum by this software in 2 days). The ultimate aim it seems of this activity is to send the message that Yang’s broadcasts should no longer be broadcast in mainland China.

During the attack, many netizens left supportive comment towards the activity and expressed desire to join in the attack.

Sample Quotes

好，支持“爆吧机”，强烈支持各爆吧网友. (link)
Good! I support “Forum Crushing Machine” as well as all the netizens who took part in the issue.

强烈要求把那贴吧封了. (link)
I strongly suggest that the forum is destroyed.

版主被迫停止发帖了～！HOHOHOHO成功！ (link)
The administrator had to stop all the posts. We win!

太帅了！！！你是什么群的，我要加！ (link)
That’s great! Which forum crushing group do you belong to? I want to join.

CIC View
More than just some sort of “in-forum terrorism”, such phenomenon indicates the evolving capability of angry Chinese netizens. From internet manhunts to this Forum Crushing activity, more and more netizens now understand how to take advantage of web tools and the collective power to amplify their voice which sometimes could lead to real damage.

For now, such "crushing machines" target mostly fan clubs sites. But don't be surprised if in the future it is brand related forums which are targeted. (Baidu Post Bar is filled with forums dedicated to such as this one for McDonald's. In this age, engaging consumers could result in a black eye.

See here for a list of top Forum Crushing Organizations on Baidu Post Bar.

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full IWOM watch report

Other CIC watch related posts that may be of interest:
CIC Watch Half-Year Review released (download the full report)
CIC watch: "You" - Time's Person of the Year - also lives in China (download the full report)

Related links:
The Patriotic Bar Busters of China
Baidu Post Bar and Super Girl fans
Crisis 2.0: China vs. the West

Last week, I discussed net language for automotive industry, with some examples around Ford Focus.

Looking at Ford Focus net language, according to the 93,721 messages mentioning Focus in our June data set of BBS messages, the official Chinese name "福克斯" gets the most number of mentions with 50% of all Focus BBS messages mentioning this term. "小福" (Little "Fu") gets 25%, and FKS gets 15% (a single message may have more than one mention of a nickname).

If we dig deeper, we can see some implications for SEM. Take a look at the nick name "FKS." If you do a search for "FKS" on Baidu or Google, you will find that 8/10 results on Baidu and 10/10 results on Google refer to Ford Focus. None refer to any official Ford site and many refer to BBS articles. Neither has any purchased keywords.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) experts say that 80% of users who do not find the desired search results on the first page will not go to the second page, it's critical for a brand to appear in 1st page search results, paid or unpaid. Clearly, this is a missed opportunity for SEM.

Just in case you missed it, we have been having a series of articles on our Chinese language blog about net language on BBS and blogs for certain categories like IT, automotive, beauty care. We also have an overall view of net language.

We thought about translating all of them, but since a good bit of the meaning is lost in translation, I will just summarize one of the more interesting ones for automotive category. Net language for automotive is quite rich, so the below is far from comprehensive, but will give you a taste.

CULTURE TERMS

FB (short for “fubai” or 腐败): The literal meaning of fubai is "corrupt." It comes from describing the act of corrupt officials freely spending to enjoy life. Within auto forums, the term has been appropriated to refer to the netizens spending their own hard-earned money to enjoy life through such "FB" activities as going out for good food and traveling. Often these "offline" FB activities are organized "online" within the forums, as the sense of community is very strong. "Online" friends, who are united by their love of a particular car, can quickly become offline friends.

Example sentence by netizen: 活动口号:发掘一切可以腐败地地点! 重要提示!!基于每次召集实际到达人数远超过报名人数, 不报名突然袭击地,大家将赋予他光买单不腐败地权力!

Translation: Searching for a place for FB event. Note: Considering the actual participants number will be far beyond the sign-up number, if you come without reservation, we will accept your money, but we won’t let you in!

DX (short for "da xia" or 大虾): The literal meaning of "da xia" is "big shrimp." DX serves as a sort of honorific title "hero" for a male netizen who says something cool or does something interesting.

Example sentence by netizen: 我的X车改装好了,请个位大虾多多指点,现在上图呵呵!

Translation: I have customized my car, would love DX to give comments on it. I am uploading pictures now!

LD (short for "lingdao" or 领导): The literal meaning is "leader," which refers to the "boss" of the male netizen, be it their wife, girlfriend or children.

Example sentence by netizen: 给俺家领导做陪驾. 俺家领.导.去年学车有成，拿到本本。
Translation: I have been the “driving company” for the LD in my house. The LD learned driving very well least year, and got a drivers license finally.

CAR TERMS

Another key aspect of automotive net language is around the automobiles themselves. Netizens have developed a system of nicknames and acronyms to refer to their beloved cars.

Camry: 凯凯(Kai Kai), KK, KMR, CMR
Focus: 小福(little Fu), 福福 (Fu Fu), FKS, FCS
Polo: 菠萝 (pineapple)
Peugeot 307: 小狮 (little lion)
Peugeot 206: 小六 (little six)
Audi 4: 小4(little 4)
Nissan Tiida: 达达 (Da Da), DD, QD
Opel: 宝宝(bao bao/baby), 小欧(little ou)

DIGGING DEEPER ON NICKNAMES: FOCUS AND POLO

Looking at Ford Focus net language, according to the 93,721 messages mentioning Focus in our June data set, the official Chinese name "福克斯" gets the most number of mentions with 50% of all Focus messages mentioning this term. "小福" (Little "Fu") gets 25%, and FKS gets 15% (a single message may have more than one mention of a nickname).

Regarding Polo and "pineapple" nickname: Polo's Chinese name has similar pronunciation as pineapple (菠萝) “buo lo”. In fact, the official Polo owners' club used pineapple as its symbol (see below).

MORE THAN JUST WORDS

Every month now, we collect over 5 million automobile BBS messages written by over 150,000 consumers expressing opinions and feelings around cars (for more information about this data, see here). Of course, for our automobile clients, "listening" to what consumers say is important. But just as important is "knowing" and understanding the culture that this net language represents.

Such net language is essential for CIC's text mining as well. In order to ensure that our mining has sufficient coverage and accuracy, we must maintain continual watch on this ever evolving net language.

Related articles:

Chinese Blogs, BBS and the Automobile Industry
Automobile: In China, the Chery Army sounds-off online
Planes, trains and automobiles: VW Polo GP too elitist for Chinese netizens

With the massive popularity of the Transformers movie in China, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight some community activities the movie has inspired as an introduction to our newest CIC watch. In one of the CIC watch articles highlight the phenomena "Group Watch (团看)" which is similar in some ways to "Group Purchase (团购)". With Group Watch, participants can gain free admission to the movie or at least a discount.

I have pasted the article below.

“Group watch” part of Chinese net culture“团看”是一种文化

Transformers is the most popular movie recently. We find many passionate fans have organized a“group watch” through BBS. As we see in the verbatims and pics below from DVD288, a DVD/Movie fan BBS, a forum administrator arranged a successful “group watch” which attracted around 80 participants with a 40% discount off the normal price.

Sample Quote
这次团看确实厉害。。。人超多。。。 (link)
What a wonderful “group watch”. So many people.
下次有这样的活动一定参加啊~~~ (link)
I must join in this kind of activity next time.

Companies also participating/sponsoring “group watch” 公司也能融入“团看”

Also on DVD288, AVSTYLE, a sound system (i.e. surround sound) sales agency organized another “group watch”. People who had purchased a system from AVSTYLE got into the Transformers for free.

Sample Quote
不错，好活动啊，再组织一次“哈里波特”吧 (link)
Great, it is a good activity. What about organizing another “group watch” for Harry Potter?
恭喜恭喜，盛况空前阿 (link) / Congratulations! This is an awesome activity.

CIC View
In this case, “Transformers” is the current hot topic online while “group watch” is typical Chinese net culture.

Although AVSTYLE is a small sales agency, it is giving big brands a good lesson on how to participate into the e-community and consumers’ real life through leveraging the net culture and hotspot.

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full CIC watch report.

Other CIC watch related posts that may be of interest:

CIC Watch Half-Year Review released (download the full report)
CIC watch: "You" - Time's Person of the Year - also lives in China (download the full report)

I am happy to announce that our CIC Watch report covering July 1-15 has been released. In this issue, one interesting topic is about Net stars. Those who have read my blog for some time know that I have written about this topic before (see here and here among others).

With this article, "The Growing Commercial Perspective of Net Stars" we can see that the impact/influence of net stars is increasing with the signing of 'Xiao Pang' to a movie deal with New Line Cinema.

I have pasted this Net star article below.

Summary

It was recently announced that the popular Internet horror fiction “Ghost Blows out the Candle” (鬼吹灯) will be filmed by New Line Cinema, the same company who has produced top box office sellers such as Lord of the Rings. The company also has announced that Chinese net star Xiao Pang (小胖) will play the “Fat Man”, one of the important roles in the story. The choice of both internet fiction and a popular net star by New Line Cinema is further evidence of the rising status of net culture.

Notes on Screenshots
1 Backdorm Boys featured in Motorola commercials and later Pepsi commercials
2 Tian Xian Mei Mei representing Sony Ericsson mobile phone
3 Top vlogger dodolook became ASUS laptop spokesperson
4 World’s top blogger Xu Jinglei represents AMD

CIC View

Many netizens, with the help of web 2.0 tools like BBS, Blog and Video Sharing, now enjoy much more control in terms what they choose to see and hear. The rapidly rising net culture is reflected in the development of a unique online language, e-sports, an online economy and online entertainment/celebrities.

Does net stars’ involvement guarantee a success for brands? Not necessarily. But they are the right “message” to draw netizens’ attention since they belong to the same world.

Other CIC watch related posts that may be of interest:

CIC Watch Half-Year Review released
CIC watch: "You" - Time's Person of the Year - also lives in China