jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Advertise a Job
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • Free CV Templates
    • Cover Letters with Examples
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Career Progression Stories
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
    • Working From Home
  • Women in Higher Education
  • FE Career Advice
    • FE CV & Interview Tips
    • Working in FE
    • Managing your Career in FE
    • FE Jobs Profiles
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Job Profiles
      • Biological Science Jobs
      • Health and Medical Jobs
      • Engineering and Technology Jobs
      • Computer Science Jobs
      • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
      • Professional Service Jobs
        • Business Development Manager Jobs Profile
        • Chef Jobs Profile
        • Civil Service Jobs Profile
        • Email Marketing Jobs Profile
        • SEO Jobs Profile
        • Office Admin Jobs
    • Vlogs
  • Webinars
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South Africa
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Dubai
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Work in Vietnam – Country Profile
      • Work in Uzbekistan – Country Profile
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • PhD and Studentship Advice
    • PhD
    • Studentship Resources
    • Vlogs
  • Need help advertising a job?
  • About jobs.ac.uk
  • Ask A Professional
  • Academic Spotlight Interviews
  • Menu
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • Free CV Templates
      • Cover Letters with Examples
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Career Progression Stories
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
      • Working From Home
    • Women in Higher Education
    • FE Career Advice
      • FE CV & Interview Tips
      • Working in FE
      • Managing your Career in FE
      • FE Jobs Profiles
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Vlogs
      • Job Profiles
        • Biological Science Jobs
        • Health and Medical Jobs
        • Engineering and Technology Jobs
        • Computer Science Jobs
        • Physical and Environmental Science Jobs
        • Professional Service Jobs
        • Civil Service jobs
    • Webinars
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Work in Egypt – Country Profile
        • Work in Ghana – Country Profile
        • Work in Kenya – Country Profile
        • Work in Nigeria – Country Profile
        • Work in South Africa – Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Work in Canada – Country Profile
        • Work in the United States of America – Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Work in Bahrain – Country Profile
        • Work in Brunei – Country Profile
        • Work in China – Country Profile
        • Work in Hong Kong – Country Profile
        • Work in India – Country Profile
        • Work in Japan – Country Profile
        • Work in Kazakhstan – Country Profile
        • Work in Malaysia – Country Profile
        • Work in Qatar – Country Profile
        • Work in Saudi Arabia – Country Profile
        • Work in Singapore – Country Profile
        • Work in South Korea – Country Profile
        • Work in Turkey – Country Profile
        • Work in United Arab Emirates – Country Profile
      • Dubai
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Work in Denmark – Country Profile
        • Work in Finland – Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Work in Germany – Country Profile
        • Work in Ireland – Country Profile
        • Work in Italy – Country Profile
        • Work in the Netherlands – Country Profile
        • Work in Norway – Country Profile
        • Work in Russia – Country Profile
        • Work in Spain – Country Profile
        • Work in Sweden – Country Profile
        • Work in Switzerland – Country Profile
        • Work in the United Kingdom – Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Work in Australia – Country profile
        • Work in New Zealand – Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs
    • Need help advertising a job?
    • About jobs.ac.uk

Social Media in China

Social Media in China

The internet and social media forever changed the way that students and teachers could interact. Today, groups can keep in touch via Facebook and Whatsapp, conferences can be live-tweeted to an entire campus and a host of university tools make access to niche information a breeze. If you’ve spent the last couple of years hooked to a smartphone to help with your studies, then prepare for a big shock.

Say goodbye to Google, news, video and social media as you know it.

Internet users in China have a long and bitter history with the Great Firewall project, which blocks access to “potentially harmful” information and social media websites. The periodical upgrades operated by the government, often in response to social unrest, can play havoc with work, study and leisure online for the country’s expats. This situation came to a head in summer 2009, with the end of access to widely known sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. This marked the beginning of a new era: one of ‘social networks with Chinese characteristics’. How can you survive a relocation to China if you’re cut off from Facebook friends? Are there ways around the great firewall? Take a look at some of the possible options below in order to stay connected:

Life saving VPNs?

Until December 2014, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) was a best friend for those who wanted to access services like Google and social media. These tools work by connecting to private network tunnels, which bypass the firewall and route your internet connection through another country, thus avoiding censorship and granting full access to blacklisted websites. These services normally charge a monthly or yearly subscription fee, but interruptions to the service thanks to Great Firewall upgrades can render a longer subscription a giant waste of money. Unfortunately, in early 2015, new updates to the Great Firewall reportedly blocked the VPNs, attempting to end freedom in cyberspace. ExpressVPN is reportedly still working, although charges one of the higher monthly costs for subscriptions (still less than £10 per month).

On the wrong side of the firewall — local alternatives

If you’re in the country and want to join a university peer group, then you’ll find that there are several Chinese networks that can be of assistance.

Professors and students alike will network through Sina’s Weibo microblogging service. Weibo arose as China’s answer to Twitter, but Sina has taken things one step further with its service, which now resembles a hybrid between Twitter and Facebook. The service is entirely in Chinese on desktops and laptops, but the iPhone version does offer an intermittent and error-ridden English language alternative. You can join university groups and follow tags through Weibo, although do be aware that, unless you’ve got a specific academic group posting in English, almost all of the posts will be in Chinese.

Google had a bit of a falling out with the Chinese government a few years ago too, which means that all traffic is now routed through Hong Kong. If you want to attempt the local alternative Baidu, you don’t “Google it”, but instead you “Baidu yixia!”, which roughly translates as: “Let’s look it up on Baidu”. This is quite a fast and efficient tool, but again, it mainly shows results in Chinese.

Tencent’s Wechat (or using the name it goes by in China, Weixin, literally “micro messages”, ) is a new arrival to China’s social media family. At first glance, it resembles a copy of Whatsapp but also shows some Facebook-like features. Users have their own profile page, on which they can share status and pictures and can also respond to and like the activities of other contacts. Perhaps most relevant to academics is the chat section, the most similar feature to Whatsapp. It allows users to type or record a message and to create groups. It is a useful tool to stay in touch and share information with friends and coworkers, which is probably why it ended up replacing Ren Ren, the very first Chinese response to Facebook.

Need to know

For anyone studying or teaching in China, it should be a given that if your topic relates to politics, journalism or international relations, you will need to think carefully about any work-related information that you post. Most social media websites in China are now asking for real name registration, with some, such as Weibo, requiring an identity card or passport number to sign up. While you are unlikely to get into any trouble, to discuss political issues with your virtual friends or followers might not be a smart move. After all, it’s better safe than sorry!

What did you think of our article? - please rate

0 / 5. 0


Share this article

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

  • Audience at the conference hall.

    Writing Abstracts for Conferences

  • Confident Businesswoman Walking with Coffee Outside Modern Office Building

    How to keep motivated in the New Year

  • Confident man Shaking Hands During a Meeting at Modern Office

    Good Luck in your new job - Part 2

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

sixteen − 5 =

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Searching for a job in the United Kingdom

Latest Jobs

  • Faculty Position, School of Intelligent Manufacturing Ecosystem

    School of Intelligent Manufacturing Ecosystem, XJTLU Entrepreneur College(Taicang), Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University

    Location: Suzhou

    Salary: Competitive Salary in the Market


  • Head of Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

    Atlantic Technological University

    Location: Galway, Mayo Abbey, Sligo

    Salary: £82,663.67 - £106,277.76


  • Research Fellow in AI for Battery Modelling Control

    Research Centre for E-Mobility and Clean Growth and Research Centre for Computational Science and Mathematical Modelling , Coventry University Group

    Location: Coventry

    Salary: £37,099 - £40,521


  • Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Statistics, UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics, Temporary 1 Year (Commencing on 01 September 2025)

    Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin

    Location: Dublin

    Salary: £36,254.83 - £61,959.05


  • University Practitioner / Senior University Practitioner in Nursing

    Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield

    Location: Huddersfield

    Salary: £39,710 - £57,954


  • Director of External Engagement

    Business School, Imperial College London

    Location: London, Hybrid

    Salary: £68,005 - £77,703 per annum


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2025