Patriotic Chinese overwhelm Tencent servers in response to national flag social media campaign ahead of PRC anniversary
- The server failed for a short time in the morning due to an unexpectedly large number of requests
The festive mood of patriotic Chinese netizens was too much for servers operated by the news service of Tencent Holdings, the country’s social media and gaming giant, after millions responded to a promotional campaign to add a national flag to their avatar to celebrate upcoming National Day.
Tencent News, the tech giant’s news site, launched a mini app on Tuesday that allowed users to add a national flag or “Happy National Day” stickers on their social media profile pictures ahead of the October 1 celebration to mark 70 years of the People’s Republic of China.
The campaign went viral on social media, attracting more than 200 million users by midday Tuesday, according to local media Beijing Youth Daily, which interviewed the project’s leader He Fan.
The server failed for a short time in the morning due to an unexpectedly large number of requests, according to the report. Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The response from patriotic Chinese netizens apparently caught the Chinese tech giant offguard. Tencent operates a wide range of the country’s most popular internet-based services, from online gaming and social networking to mobile payments, in addition to a growing portfolio of investments in companies involved in everything from meal deliveries to steel trading.