The average weibo user may not be a journalist, but there are journalists on weibo. Moreover, the intense speed of weibo makes it a good counterpoint to more traditional media platforms by allowing it to propagate stories too “sensitive” to ever see the front page of a mainstream paper. Sure, it can be tough to sift the truth from the rumors and the outright falsehoods. But if you follow the right people, weibo can be an excellent source of information and it’s just as much a media platform as anything else.
That’s my take, anyway. Cao obviously doesn’t agree, and perhaps neither do you. Can social media sites also serve as platforms for journalism, or are newspapers and tv stations the only real “media” out there?