Breaking down Weibo’s language barrier

Sina Weibo gives insight into what Chinese Web users are thinking, reading, watching and doing everyday, but the problem is, most of the content is in Chinese. Non-native Chinese speakers and those curious to take a peek into the minds of the reported 500 million registered users on Sina Weibo have long used the services of websites like chinaSMACK, which translates popular Web users' comments and reactions into English by the hundreds, every day.

But let's say someone hoping to gain access into a celebrity or person's Sina Weibo wanted an instant, easy solution. How can you do it?

That's the service that the people behind the mobile app called Surround are hoping to provide. Set for a pre-launch in April, the app aims to provide instant translations of any post or comment put up on Sina Weibo. The first release will be free and they plan on including add-on features at a cost, such as live human translations.

The idea for the app was born of co-founder Jeffrey Broer's personal frustration at spending a decade or so in and out of China and not being able to connect – virtually – with people. Broer, who currently resides in Hong Kong, would meet people during his travels in China that he wanted to follow on Sina Weibo, but was unable to due to the language barrier.

"It's excruciatingly painful to do all the translation work on your mobile. So I thought, why isn't there an app that can do this? There isn't one, so that's one of the reasons I started Surround," he told Metro Beijing in a Skype interview.

The makers behind the Surround app are at the forefront of efforts to tap into the Chinese social media industry – something that other Western companies and celebrities are doing as the platform grows in popularity.

Western wave

Sina Weibo, launched by the Chinese Internet company Sina Corporation on August 14, 2009, is often referred to as China's version of Twitter.

Like Twitter, Sina Weibo allows users to post photos, videos, comments and messages, while following other users. In addition, Weibo users can comment on each public post, with the ability to add embedded photos – a feature that allows for some innovative and entertaining comments.

Earlier this year, Sina Weibo offered an English interface edition, with English available as an option for navigating the basic menus. And more recently, there has already been an influx of Western celebrities and public figures rushing in to sign up.

NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, for example, just set up an account last week, and has amassed 600,000 followers. His first post on February 15 read, "Valentine's Day sneaks ready to break Clipper hearts. Big game tonight." This seemingly mundane comment was reposted over 80,000 times.

Bryant joins the ranks of other celebrities like Emma Watson, the band Radiohead and Tom Cruise, who all have verified Sina Weibo accounts.

But how does Weibo's popularity overseas break down into hard data?

Independent research company Goldpebble issued a summary on Sina on February 6 which found that Weibo "already penetrated over 60 top global brands as well as top local brands."

After researching the top global 500 brands, the company found that "211 of them have Weibo enterprise accounts with an average of 218,000 fans/followers."