Great love in the era of micro media

Edited and Translated by Huang Beibei, People's Daily Online

"The whole China leaped up," that is the gesture of a nation in face of disaster after the Lushan earthquake. Strong and effective government initiatives, timely and adequate broadcast of media, and countless ordinary people who give a helping hand in their own way have formed a common destiny. Internet, well into the lives of hundreds of millions of people, is undoubtedly an important platform to unite the positive energy.

A piece of message about the earthquake send by China International Search & Rescue Team (CISAR) on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging website was forwarded more than 460,000 times. Public account "earthquake relief" on WeChat, the most popular mobile application in China, witnessed increase of nearly 100,000 followers in less than one day, sending 150,000 messages. Search engines and portals took joint action and put up the platform for looking for those who lost touch with their families in the earthquake. Not everyone can be in Ya'an, Sichuan province, but on this platform, the space and time gap is reduced to zero; everyone can express their concern, express feelings, and provide advice. No man is an island in the world of the Internet; in the micro media era where everyone has the microphone, our hearts are together.

Five years ago, afar the Wenchuan earthquake, many people put a red heart in their signature on QQ, a popular instant messaging software service, to pass a strong emotional power. Volunteers organized through blog and forums played an important role.

During these five years, from social networks to microblogging, and then the sudden emergence of the WeChat, network accompanied the country to grow together. Micro media brings together the efforts of the earthquake relief and countless individuals’ active participation has built a new rescue lifeline.

More importantly, Internet users continue to get mature after so many emergencies and public discussions. After the Lushan earthquake, the self-awareness and reflection spread in the entire Internet world let people see the formation of a public space filled with citizen spirit.

Volunteers have been called on to give way to the professional rescuers before departure. When reporters were just on the road, messages reminding them to pay attention to media ethics have become hot topics in microblogging. A piece of false information about looking for family member also became a target for all, making the consensus of “do not start rumors, do not believe rumors, and do not pass rumors " become more solid. Entries calling on netizens to make fewer phone calls, not to make donations to inappropriate organizations, even not to encourage speculation nor being sensational have shown Internet users are getting maturing with rational mentality. Isn’t it just the epitome of the progressing Chinese society?