Opinion monitoring services doing brisk business in China as online media reduced the time it takes to form public opinion from 24 hours to just one to four hours

Opinion monitoring services doing brisk business in China

Staff Reporter

2013-09-02

With online media having reduced the time it takes to form public opinion from 24 hours to just one to four hours, the business of public opinion monitoring is booming in China, the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekly newspaper reports. The monitoring of online opinions caught attention in 2007, owing to the rise of social media, which has allowed people to actively express their thoughts on political and social issues, said Shan Xuegang, deputy head of the Public Opinion Monitoring Office at the People’s Daily. Former Chinese president Hu Jintao’s taking part in an online discussion in June 2008, the first time a Chinese leader had done so with internet users, led to the Chinese media marking that year as the beginning of online political participation in the country.Since public opinions form much faster through the internet, an institute might have to deal with one-sided criticism, misunderstanding or questions, if it fails to respond to such information quickly, the Southern Weekly said.

“It poses a great challenge for government agencies and businesses. New technologies and methods are needed, since it is impossible to make a critical response during the initial four hours by relying on traditional ways of gathering information,” said Yu Guoming, director of the Public Opinion Research Institute at Renmin University of China.

The business of monitoring online opinions had arisen, the Southern Weekly noted, because software companies, media outlets and consulting firms wanted to tap into the market with their respective strength.

For instance, the People’s Daily and the state-run Xinhua News Agency have both established units in this area and provide services for gathering and analyzing online opinions for clients, mainly government agencies.

With the China Internet Network Information Center’s data showing that the number of internet users in the country reached 591 million in July, the Public Opinion Monitoring Office is expected to contribute over 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) to the revenue of the People’s Daily this year — the biggest amount among subsidiaries of the newspaper.

Xinhua, which established the country’s first monitoring platform on the county level, has forecast a 160% annual growth in revenue for this part of their business for 2013.

Technology companies, such as the Founder Group, have established their position in the business by selling software that help users easily track online discussions, or offers services to do so for clients for a charge.

Although some smaller service providers also offer to help delete negative online comments, both Zhu Huaxin at the People’s Daily and Duan Saimin at Xinhua insist that their monitoring services do not equal censorship.