Chinese netizens who love to share their stuff online actually have an official net language term to describe their behavior – “Shai” (晒/show). People who enjoy doing “Shai” are called “Shai Ke” (晒客), similar to the use of “Bo Ke”(博客) for blogger and “Bo Ke”(播客) for vlogger. The development of Shai is representative of the fast-evolving net culture in China where we have seen blogs develop into vlogs and witkey to Huan Ke (换客,people who exchange stuff online). As we can see in the excerpt on Shai from our most recent CIC watch report below, the channels of expression online in China are continuing to morph.

Summary

Around Mid-autumn Festival, “Shai Shai (晒晒) your company’s gifts” became a very popular topic in many online communities (see screenshot above). Besides commenting on their company’s generosity in these conversations, netizens also expressed their feelings about the festival and even some complained about their companies.

However, Shai is not limited to Mid-Autumn Festival. It seems that netizens like to “shai” many kinds of things (see sample screenshot below), including personal collections, decorations, pets, and products. These “shai” shows not only demonstrate consumers’ passion but also provide many opportunities for brand/product exposure.

As more and more netizens join the “shai” force on the Internet, some special forums/sites have come out (for example Shai Yi Shai). Netizens who participate in “shai” are called “Shai Ke”.
“Shai Hei” (or “black show”)is the latest development of “Shai Ke”　(see shaihei.com for example). Shai Hei has turned into another channel to share unpleasant experiences with brands.

CIC View

The “Shai” culture is another double-edge sword for brands. On one hand, passionate fans can demonstrate their love to brands/products which allows brands the opportunity to benefit from this net culture and see its online brand equity strengthened. On the other hand, since information is spread easily when many people get together, “shai” could also initiate or amplify a crisis.

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

Other CIC IWOM 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

For more information on the unique Chinese net language, see my previous post here.