Outspoken and very rich: Who China’s students chat about most on social media

The author and racing driver Han Han; Wang Sicong, the outspoken son of one of the mainland’s richest men; and Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma are the three public figures who college students chat about most on social media in mainland China, according to a survey.

 Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai studied the posts of 1,700 students on Sina.com’s Weibo over the past two years to see who they mentioned or talked about the most.

Ma was the most respected public figure among the students studied, the researchers revealed.  

Ninety per cent of the students indicated in their posts that they liked and admired him, saying he represented young people’s passion for entrepreneurship, exploring the internet and their desire for wealth and success. 

Han, 32, was popular because of his individuality and talent in art and literature, while Wang, the son of tycoon Wang Jianlin, attracted attention because of his sharp remarks and often unconventional behaviour, the researchers said. 

About 70 per cent of the students studied indicated on social media that they liked Wang, 27, because he was an unabashed individual, raised for sometime in the West, whose behaviour was sometimes at odds with traditional Chinese values.