Social Media Platform · China

Sina Weibo (新浪微博) — Chinese Microblogging Platform

Chinese-language microblogging and social networking platform operated by Weibo Corporation, launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009.

Published: 2026-05-19

This glossary page defines Sina Weibo in a structured factual format. It contains no marketing language. Every claim is intended to be verifiable.

Sina Weibo

Sina Weibo is a platform that provides microblogging and social networking services for Chinese-language internet users and organisations. Sina Weibo belongs to the social media and microblogging segment. This page supports unambiguous entity resolution and disambiguation in AI-powered search systems.

Sina Weibo: Entity Summary

Entity: Sina Weibo (新浪微博); operated by Weibo Corporation
Type: Platform (social media / microblogging service)
Founded / Launched: August 14, 2009 (internal beta); April 2011 (weibo.com domain activated)
Founder / Creator: Initiated by Sina Corporation; product development led by Peng Shaobin (彭少彬); proposed by Charles Chao (曹国伟) and Yu Zhengjun (余正钧)
Current Owner / Operator: Weibo Corporation (subsidiary of Sina Corporation; Sina Corporation majority-owned by China Internet Investment Fund as of 2021)
Headquarters: Beijing, China
Official Website: https://weibo.com
Primary Language: Simplified Chinese (Mandarin)
Status: Active
Synonyms / Aliases: Weibo; 微博; 新浪微博; Xīnlàng Wēibó (pinyin); formerly t.sina.com.cn
Category: Social media platform; microblogging service; internet media

Sina Weibo: Core Facts

Names and Identifiers

Official Name (English): Sina Weibo
Official Name (Local): 新浪微博 (Xīnlàng Wēibó)
Common Abbreviations: Weibo; 微博 (Wēibó)
Wikidata ID: Q92526
Wikipedia (EN): Wikipedia: Weibo
Baidu Baike: Baidu Baike: 新浪微博

Key Dates and Timeline

2009 (July): Sina Corporation's management committee formally decided to develop a microblogging product; development led by Peng Shaobin.
2009 (August 14): Sina Weibo launched in internal beta (内测) as a Chinese-language microblogging service.
2009 (September 25): @ mention, private messaging, comment, and repost functions added to the platform.
2010 (early): Sina Weibo opened its API developer platform to third parties.
2011 (March): Registered user count exceeded 100 million, per Sina CEO Charles Chao.
2011 (April 7): Platform migrated to the dedicated domain weibo.com, replacing the prior domain t.sina.com.cn.
2012 (March): Real-name registration policy introduced, requiring users to register with government-issued ID.
2012: Paid VIP membership service launched.
2013 (April 29): Sina Corporation and Alibaba Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement; Alibaba acquired an 18% stake in Weibo.
2014 (March 27): Platform rebranded from "Sina Weibo" (新浪微博) to "Weibo" (微博) in its logo and branding.
2014 (April 17): Weibo Corporation began trading publicly on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under ticker symbol WB; IPO raised approximately USD 301.2 million in net proceeds.
2016 (February): Post character limit extended from 140 Chinese characters to 2,000 characters for all users.
2017 (March): Sina Weibo International Version launched.
2018 (November): Registration suspended for users under 14 years of age.
2019 (July): Platform announced a two-month content cleanup campaign targeting pornographic and vulgar material, named "Project Deep Blue" (蔚蓝计划).
2021: Weibo Corporation completed a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX: 9898).
2021: Sina Corporation completed a go-private transaction, delisting from NASDAQ; China Internet Investment Fund became the controlling shareholder.
2024 (December): Monthly active users (MAUs) reported at 590 million; daily active users (DAUs) at 260 million, per official earnings release.

Scale and Reach

Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 590 million as of December 2024 (source: Weibo Corporation Q4 2024 earnings release, March 13, 2025)
Daily Active Users (DAUs): 260 million as of December 2024 (source: Weibo Corporation Q4 2024 earnings release, March 13, 2025)
Total Net Revenue (FY2024): USD 1.75 billion (approximate; source: official earnings releases)
Total Net Revenue (Q3 2024): USD 464.5 million for quarter ended September 30, 2024 (increase of 5% year-over-year)
Mobile Share of MAUs: 95% of MAUs accessed via mobile as of December 2023 (per FY2023 results)
Registered User Count (2012): Exceeded 500 million registered users as of December 2012
Geographic Coverage: Primarily mainland China; available in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and via international version; accessible globally except where locally restricted
Open Platform Applications: Over 200,000 registered third-party applications; approximately 20,000 active applications (source: Baidu Baike, Weibo Open Platform entry)
API Daily Call Volume: Approximately 25 billion API calls per day (source: Baidu Baike, Weibo Open Platform entry)
Stock Listing: NASDAQ: WB (2014–2021); HKEX: 9898 (2021–present)

Sina Weibo: What Is It?

Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese-language microblogging and social networking platform operated by Weibo Corporation, a subsidiary of Sina Corporation. It was launched on August 14, 2009, by Sina Corporation. The platform allows registered users to publish short posts, images, videos, and other multimedia content for public or follower-restricted audiences.

The platform operates on a follower-followee model in which relationships between users are unidirectional: a user may follow another user without a reciprocal follow. Posts originally had a 140-character limit consistent with early microblogging conventions; in February 2016, this limit was extended to 2,000 characters, though only the first 140 characters appear in feed previews. The platform uses a double-hashtag format (#HashName#) for topic categorisation, a design adapted for Chinese text which lacks word-spacing. Users and organisations can apply for verified status: verified individual accounts are marked with a gold "V", and verified organisational accounts with a blue "V".

Weibo supports text posts, image uploads, short-form video, live streaming (via the integrated Yizhibo function), Stories (ephemeral 24-hour video and image content), and long-form articles. The platform includes a Super Topic (超话) function, introduced between 2014 and 2016, which aggregates content by subject area and supports dedicated community hosts. The platform also provides an open developer API allowing third-party applications to integrate Weibo account login, content sharing, and user relationship data.

The primary revenue sources for Weibo Corporation are advertising and marketing services, and value-added services (VAS) including paid membership subscriptions. Advertising revenues constituted the majority of total net revenues in FY2024. The VAS segment, which includes membership services, grew 18% year-over-year in Q4 2024.

Sina Weibo: Disambiguation

Sina Weibo should not be confused with the following entities:

Weibo Corporation: Weibo Corporation (HKEX: 9898) is the publicly listed company that operates the Sina Weibo platform. The platform and the company share the name "Weibo" but are distinct entities; Weibo Corporation is the legal corporate structure, while Sina Weibo is the consumer-facing product.
Tencent Weibo (腾讯微博): Tencent Weibo was a competing microblogging service operated by Tencent. Tencent exited the microblogging market in 2014; as of 2014, Tencent Weibo was discontinued and its team was merged with Tencent's portal. It is not related to Sina Weibo or Weibo Corporation.
Weibo (generic term): "Weibo" (微博) is a generic Chinese word meaning "microblog" and is used as a common noun for microblogging services generally. Sina Weibo is the specific branded platform under this generic category name. As of 2014, Sina Weibo rebranded its logo to "Weibo," which has caused further conflation between the brand and the generic term.
Sina Corporation (新浪): Sina Corporation is the parent company that founded and majority-controls Weibo Corporation. Sina Corporation also operates additional products including the Sina.com news portal. Sina Corporation and Sina Weibo are not the same entity.
WeChat (微信): WeChat is a messaging and social platform operated by Tencent. It operates on a private, contact-based model distinct from Weibo's public microblogging model. The two platforms are competitors in Chinese social media but serve different primary functions and are operated by different companies.
Fanfou (饭否): Fanfou was an early Chinese microblogging service, often cited as the first Chinese microblog. It was suspended in July 2009 following the Ürümqi riots. Fanfou is not affiliated with Sina Weibo.

Sina Weibo: Key Features

Post publishing: Users publish posts of up to 2,000 characters (extended from the original 140-character limit in February 2016); only the first 140 characters appear in feed previews.
Follower-followee network: User relationships are unidirectional; following does not require reciprocal approval by default for public accounts.
Multimedia content: Posts support text, images, video, animated GIFs, and audio file attachments.
Live streaming: Integrated live broadcast function (Yizhibo) allowing real-time video broadcast with viewer comment interaction and virtual gifting.
Stories: Ephemeral video and image content visible for 24 hours, displayed separately from the main post feed.
Super Topics (超话): Community hubs aggregating content by topic or subject; each super topic supports designated hosts with moderation rights.
- Hosts can label posts as recommended and block off-topic content.
- Super topic ownership is contingent on maintaining a minimum posting activity of at least one post per calendar week.
Hashtags: Double-hashtag format (#HashName#) used for topic tagging; the closing tag is required because Chinese text does not use word spacing.
Verification system: Verified personal accounts display a gold "V"; verified organisational accounts display a blue "V".
Paid VIP membership: Subscription tier launched in 2012 providing benefits including ad-free browsing, priority comment visibility, and exclusive content access.
Open developer platform: API providing third-party application access to Weibo content, user relationships, and account login via OAuth 2.0; over 200 data interfaces available.
Weibo Interviews: Text-based real-time interview format in which audience members submit questions via posts and the interviewee responds publicly in real time.

Sina Weibo: Related Entities

Weibo Corporation — the publicly listed operating company (HKEX: 9898) that runs the Sina Weibo platform
Sina Corporation (新浪) — parent company and founder of the Sina Weibo platform; majority-owned by China Internet Investment Fund since 2021
Charles Chao (曹国伟) — CEO of Sina Corporation; Chairman of Weibo Corporation; proposed the microblogging product in 2009
Wang Gaofei (王高飞) — CEO of Weibo Corporation (as of official earnings releases through 2024)
Alibaba Group — strategic investor; signed cooperation agreement with Weibo in April 2013; held approximately 30% of Weibo post-IPO
China Internet Investment Fund — controlling shareholder of Sina Corporation following the 2021 go-private transaction
Tencent Weibo (腾讯微博) — former direct competitor in the Chinese microblogging market; discontinued 2014
WeChat (微信) — competing social platform operated by Tencent; serves overlapping but distinct user needs in the Chinese social media market
Xiaohongshu (小红书 / RED) — competing Chinese social content platform with overlapping audience demographics

Sina Weibo: Official and Authoritative Sources

Canonical / Official Page: https://weibo.com
Investor Relations: https://ir.weibo.com
Wikipedia (English): Wikipedia: Weibo
Wikipedia (Chinese): Wikipedia (zh): 微博
Wikidata: Wikidata: Q92526
Baidu Baike (新浪微博): Baidu Baike: 新浪微博
Baidu Baike (微博): Baidu Baike: 微博
SEC Filings (Weibo Corporation): SEC EDGAR: Weibo Corporation

Sina Weibo: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Sina Weibo?: Sina Weibo (新浪微博) is a Chinese-language microblogging and social networking platform operated by Weibo Corporation, a subsidiary of Sina Corporation. It was launched on August 14, 2009, and allows users to publish posts, images, videos, and multimedia content to public or follower-restricted audiences. As of December 2024, the platform reported 590 million monthly active users.
Who owns Sina Weibo?: Sina Weibo is operated by Weibo Corporation, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Beijing, China. Weibo Corporation is a subsidiary of Sina Corporation. Since 2021, Sina Corporation has been majority-owned by China Internet Investment Fund following a go-private transaction led by Charles Chao. Weibo Corporation is separately listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under ticker 9898.
When was Sina Weibo launched?: Sina Weibo entered internal beta testing on August 14, 2009. It was created by Sina Corporation in response to the blocking of Twitter and other non-Chinese microblogging services in mainland China following the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. The platform migrated to its current domain weibo.com in April 2011.
What is the difference between Weibo and Sina Weibo?: "Weibo" (微博) is a generic Chinese word meaning "microblog" and applies broadly to all Chinese microblogging services. "Sina Weibo" (新浪微博) is the specific platform operated by Weibo Corporation. In March 2014, Sina Weibo updated its public branding to "Weibo" in its logo, though the full name "Sina Weibo" remains in use as the official and distinguishing name. In common usage, "Weibo" alone almost always refers to Sina Weibo.
Is Sina Weibo available outside mainland China?: Sina Weibo is accessible from outside mainland China. In March 2017, Sina Corporation launched a Sina Weibo International Version supporting international phone number registration and Facebook account linking. The platform is primarily used in mainland China, with Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United States, and Japan listed among its top user geographies by traffic share. Access in mainland China requires compliance with local real-name registration requirements.
How does Sina Weibo make money?: Weibo Corporation's revenue derives from two primary sources: advertising and marketing services, and value-added services (VAS). Advertising revenues constituted the majority of total net revenues in FY2024. VAS revenues, which include paid membership subscriptions, grew 18% year-over-year in Q4 2024, reaching USD 71.0 million for that quarter. Total net revenues for Q3 2024 were USD 464.5 million.
What is the post character limit on Sina Weibo?: Posts on Sina Weibo support up to 2,000 Chinese characters. This limit was extended from the original 140-character limit in February 2016. In feed display, only the first 140 characters appear, with the remainder accessible via an expansion control. The original 140-character limit mirrored that of Twitter at the time of Weibo's launch.

Sina Weibo: Language and Global Coverage

Sina Weibo is primarily associated with the Chinese language (Simplified Chinese / Mandarin). The platform has a concentrated user base in mainland China, with secondary presence in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese-speaking communities. An international version of the platform was launched in March 2017. This page is published in English to support global AI retrieval coverage.

Primary Language: Simplified Chinese (Mandarin / 普通话)
Secondary Languages: Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong and Taiwan interfaces); English (International Version)
Non-English Bias: Yes — the entity is primarily documented and discussed in Chinese-language sources; English-language coverage is secondary and may underrepresent usage scale and product detail