On April 12, Beijing time 10:12, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking published his first post on China’s biggest social media platform Sina Weibo in both English and Chinese. In his debut post, Hawking announces his appearance on Weibo, recalls his two previous travels to China, and expresses his wish to continue communication with his “friends in China”.
Hawking’s first Weibo post soon attracted hundreds of thousands of re-posts and comments. Hawking’s official account, @史蒂芬·霍金_StephenHawking, is jointly run by Hawking’s own team and social media company Stradella Road. It has attracted almost 1 million followers so far. All messages with the inscription SH are authentic from Hawking himself.
Weibo users give the scientist a warm welcome, with many people expressing their exhilaration to have one of the world’s most prominent scientists on Chinese social media, saying that he “will bring up the average IQ of Weibo users”.
Some people show that they are familiar with Hawking’s works, and express their appreciation for his contribution to science. But also for those who are not that familiar with Hawking’s theories, he is still a model figure. Many refer to him as a “God-like figure”, and address him with the Chinese pronoun Nin (您, similar to French vous) instead of Ni (你, similar to French tu) to show their respect. One netizen remarks that Hawking is the most cited figure in his school essays.
Hawking is not the first world celebrity to appear on Sina Weibo. Many famous political figures from the international community preceded him. The first foreign politician to open a Weibo account was the Chinese-American major Huang Jinbo (@黄锦波), who set up his Weibo account on March 31, 2009. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Michael Rudd (@陆克文先生) is amongst the most active foreign Weibo politicians. Fluent in Chinese and with one daughter settling in Beijing, Kevin gives regular updates in Chinese. Most of his posts are about his connection to China. As for UK prime minister David Cameron (@英国首相); his Weibo account was opened on occasion of his state visit to China in 2013, and has somehow become a platform for Sherlock fans to nudge for new episodes. Former President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy (@欧盟欧洲理事会主席) posts about EU-China relations and other work-related information on Weibo.
David Cameron wishing his followers a Happy Chinese New Year on Sina Weibo.
Besides more and more famous international politicians getting online through Sina Weibo, a growing number of other world celebrities are now also engaging with China’s social media. Amongst them are big business names like Bill Gates (@billgates) and Tim Cook (@ TimCook), prominent sports figures including Maria Sharapova (@ MariaSharapova) and Andy Murray (@ AndyMurray安迪穆雷), as well as famous showbiz figures such as Hugh Jackman (@ HughJackman) and Tom Cruise (@ officialtomcruise). Not to mention many Asian actors, actresses and singers who also have a Chinese fanbase (for example Japanese AV actress @ 苍井空 and Thai young actor and singer @ Psy_小P).
For foreign politicians and international celebrities, China and the Chinese public is becoming increasingly relevant. Politicians engage with Chinese social media as a type of public diplomacy, striving for a better public image of the countries they represent. For businessmen, sportsmen and movie figures, Weibo is a new platform for public relations to promote themselves and their businesses to a huge Chinese market. Whether it is for the sake of diplomacy, marketing purposes, or for boosting personal careers – international famous people have found their way to Weibo.
Hawking’s Weibo debut, however, seems to differ from that of his predecessors. The scientist has no specific country to represent, no apparent diplomatic purposes to fulfil, nor any explicit business intentions. As he said in his first post, he would like to share his life and his work with his audience, and learn from them through replies. To what extent Hawking’s Weibo account will actually stimulate intellectual exchanges remains to be seen, but his first steps on Weibo seem promising: China’s netizens have welcomed Hawking with open arms.
– By Diandian Guo
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Read more about foreign politicians on Sina Weibo: http://news.sina.com.cn/w/2013-12-08/144828917509.shtml
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