Net Language VS National Matriculation Test (April 3rd）
（网络语言 VS 中国高考）

High school students in China are entering tense times with the upcoming college entrance exams. Most of the students scheduled to take the exam this year were born in the early 90s and are essentially the first generation of “net natives” in China. Interestingly, the authority behind the National Matriculation Test has ruled that Net language cannot be used on the test. This post discusses people’s arguments as to whether or not Net language should be used on the National Matriculation Test. The fact that there is a sort of national debate regarding net language shows the impact of digital culture on Chinese culture.

Spoofing on April Fools’ Day (April 9th)
(愚人节的网络恶搞)

Spoofing has become an integral part of Chinese net culture, so it is no surprise that netizens decided to participate in some “online tricks” on April Fools’ Day . Even Google China decided to join in the fun and posted fake messages on its official website on April 1st. The recent April Fools’ Day jokes show that, when done correctly, spoofing can encourage positive buzz and enthusiasm among netizens.

Offline presentation spurs IWOM Controversy (April 11th)
(从大小S北大演讲看口碑的争议性)

On March 30th, Taiwan sister stars, Xu Xiyuan (Big “S”) and Xu Xidi (Small “S”), gave a presentation at Beijing University on beauty products. However instead of taking an academic approach to the topic, the presentation was more superficial. The sisters encouraged the students to try new products and brands, but did not discuss deeper content. This caused a lot of controversy among the students and faculty who began to debate on the Internet whether or not universities should continue to allow stars to present to students. In this post, James and Violet analyze the controversy and IWOM around this story. They mention that, just as in the case of Edison Chen, brands should be aware that they may get negative attention by being sucked into controversies not of their own doing. This is yet another reason to track what’s being said online.