Social Media in Chinese 社交媒体
shèjiāo méitǐ
Social media in Chinese is 社交媒体 (shè jiāo méi tǐ).
Also searched for as: social media post, post, like and follow, wechat moments.
Where do you share it all? 12 essential social media words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The term for social media in Chinese is 社交媒体 (shè jiāo méi tǐ), though in conversation people usually just name the platform. The most distinctive word here is 朋友圈 (péng you quān), literally 'circle of friends', the WeChat Moments feed where friends and family share photos and news. You'll also need everyday verbs like 点赞 (diǎn zàn), to like a post, and 关注 (guān zhù), to follow, plus newer words such as 网红 (wǎng hóng), an influencer.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 社交媒体 | shè jiāo méi tǐ | social media |
| 朋友圈 | péng you quān | WeChat Moments |
| 发帖 | fā tiě | to post |
| 点赞 | diǎn zàn | to like (a post) |
| 评论 | píng lùn | comment |
| 分享 | fēn xiǎng | to share |
| 关注 | guān zhù | to follow |
| 粉丝 | fěn sī | followers; fans |
| 直播 | zhí bō | livestream |
| 网红 | wǎng hóng | influencer |
| 热搜 | rè sōu | trending topics |
| 短视频 | duǎn shì pín | short video |
Usage tips
- 点赞 (diǎn zàn) is literally 'click praise'; to like someone's post you 给 them a like: 给我点个赞 (gěi wǒ diǎn ge zàn), give me a like. In speech, 赞 (zàn) on its own also means 'great!'.
- You 发 (fā) almost everything online: 发朋友圈 (fā péng you quān) is to post on Moments and 发视频 (fā shì pín) to post a video. 发帖 (fā tiě) is used more for forum posts and longer written posts.
- 网红 (wǎng hóng), literally 'internet red', can describe places and food as well as people: a 网红店 (wǎng hóng diàn) is a shop or café that has gone viral online, often with a queue outside.
Common mistakes
- 粉丝 (fěn sī) is a loanword from 'fans', but it also means glass noodles, so 我喜欢粉丝 on its own sounds like a food preference; say 我是他的粉丝 (wǒ shì tā de fěn sī) to mean you're a fan.
- For 'follow me' online, learners sometimes use 跟我 (gēn wǒ), which means follow me physically; online it's 关注我 (guān zhù wǒ).
Mini dialogue
- A你看朋友圈了吗？小王在泰国！Nǐ kàn péng you quān le ma? Xiǎo Wáng zài Tài guó!Have you seen Moments? Xiao Wang is in Thailand!
- B看了，我还给他点赞了。照片拍得真好。Kàn le, wǒ hái gěi tā diǎn zàn le. Zhào piàn pāi de zhēn hǎo.Yes, I even liked his post. The photos are really good.
- A他现在是网红了，有两万个粉丝。Tā xiàn zài shì wǎng hóng le, yǒu liǎng wàn ge fěn sī.He's an influencer now, with twenty thousand followers.
- B真的吗？那我也要关注他。Zhēn de ma? Nà wǒ yě yào guān zhù tā.Really? Then I'll follow him too.
- A他今晚八点还要直播。Tā jīn wǎn bā diǎn hái yào zhí bō.He's doing a livestream at eight tonight as well.
Example sentences
- 她每天花很多时间在社交媒体上。She spends a lot of time on social media every day.
- 他在朋友圈发了旅行的照片。He posted his travel photos on WeChat Moments.
- 我很少在网上发帖。I rarely post online.
- 谢谢大家给我点赞！Thanks, everyone, for liking my post!
- 这条视频下面有很多评论。There are lots of comments under this video.
- 我想和大家分享一个好消息。I'd like to share some good news with everyone.
- 欢迎关注我们的账号！Feel free to follow our account!
- 这个歌手有很多粉丝。This singer has lots of fans.
- 她每天晚上八点直播。She livestreams every evening at eight.
- 这家店因为一个网红火了。This shop got popular because of an influencer.
- 这件事上热搜了。This story is trending.
- 他喜欢拍做饭的短视频。He likes filming short cooking videos.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Social media speaking island has 8 everyday questions about social media to prepare your own answers to.