Society moves online in brave new world(3)

Gangnam Style

The Internet has been bombarded with the song Gangnam Style by South Korean rapper Psy since it debuted on July 15.

The music clip began to go viral in late July when celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Britney Spears and Katy Perry either commented or shared the video on the micro-blogging service Twitter.

It became YouTube's most watched video in November, beating Justin Bieber's Baby, which previously held the record. On Dec 21, it made history as the first video on YouTube to reach 1 billion hits and now has more than 1.14 billion views.

Psy became an overnight global celebrity and even performed at the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, New York.

Meanwhile, various imitations flourished in China, especially the dance's horse steps, not only among celebrities such as TV host Zhao Zhongxiang, but also everyday netizens.

It was to be expected that in most Chinese corporations' year-end parties, Gangnam Style would be ubiquitous, just like on the Internet.

Online anti-corruption

It seems Chinese netizens have entered the era of online anti-corruption.

In 2012, a number of officials were relieved of their posts due to corruption or misconduct after Internet users exposed them online, and causing an immediate sensation.

Yang Dacai, the former head of Shaanxi province's bureau of work safety, was dismissed in September after netizens posted photos of him wearing several luxury watches, which he could not afford on his salary.

In October, Cai Bin, an urban management official in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, was sacked when it was exposed online that he owned 22 houses.

Some tipsters no longer hide behind the Internet.

Ji Xuguang, an investigative reporter, exposed the scandal surrounding the official Lei Zhengfu on Sina Weibo, with real name registration.

Lei, former Party chief of Chongqing's Beibei district, was sacked on Nov 23, only 63 hours after his sex video with a woman was leaked to the Internet.

Pu Xingzu, a professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, told China Daily the Internet offers another platform to combat corruption, and it has proved efficient, but needs improvement.

"However, online anti-corruption must be combined with professional anti-corruption. Because it's difficult to ensure each online revelation is true, professional anti-corruption bureaus have to investigate and reach a conclusion," he said.

Singles Day shopping

Chinese e-retailers have successfully turned Singles Day, Nov 11, into the world's biggest online shopping spree. Begun in the 1990s, the grassroots festival is often observed by young single Chinese.

The popular Chinese online shopping sites Taobao and Tmall, owned by the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, made a total sales revenue of 19.1 billion yuan on that day. It's more than double the sales revenue on Cyber Monday in the US in 2011.

Other leading Chinese e-commerce providers, such as Dangdang and 360buy, also joined the festival.

"Singles Day is just like a combination of Cyber Monday and Halloween. The former is for shopping only, while the latter is a festival for young people to relax and celebrate," said Chen Yuxin, a visiting professor from China Europe International Business School.

Chen said other Chinese festivals also have potential in the market, such as Valentine's Day and its Chinese version Qixi, and Chongyang Festival.

According to Yan Qiao, a public relations officer from Tmall, this year's Singles Day will definitely be Alibaba's most important shopping day, and they will carry on it as the new tradition.