Hello Steem Blockchain!

For much of the English-speaking world, the websites we usually share videos from are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. These websites are all blocked in China and instead, they have a myriad of other video sharing/blogging apps to choose from.

If you are someone that is going to come to China (or just arrived), then I need to warn you about something. On Chinese social media, there is no shortage of graphic, uncensored and disturbing content that can easily be found when browsing through these apps.

This isn't something that a lot of Westerners are used to. Sites like YouTube and Facebook have strict policies over posting this kind of content, but on Chinese social media, they are actually promoted!

There are so many media outlets in China that are competing for viewers and an audience. As a result, one of their popular tactics is to put some awful and shocking content on their front page to attract people to watch videos on their platform. I don't think there is the same interest in this type of content in America/Canada, but in China, this type of content gets shared and goes viral.

What do I mean be graphic/disturbing content? I mean videos showing people getting run over by a train, people committing suicide, rape, animal cruelty, etc. All uncensored.

Personally speaking, I really don't like viewing this type of content, but Chinese people seem to be attracted to this stuff and they will post it around social media. One popular app is called WeChat. Everybody uses this app in China and it is really convenient. You can chat with friends, share photos and videos to your "Moments" and join different groups. I guess it is similar to Facebook/Twitter. There have been several instances where one of my friends on WeChat sends me a random video without explaining what it is and it turns out to be something disturbing and makes me feel sick to my stomach. I don't even remember people in Canada sharing content like this. In the West, you have to actually go out looking for this type of content, but in China, this type of content will find you!

There are other popular apps like Weibo, Dou Yin, Mei Pai, YouKu that are also video sharing sites. If you don't want to view graphic content, please exercise caution when using these apps.

How to Protect Yourself On WeChat?

If somebody sends you a random video you didn't ask for, the only thing you have to judge this video is the thumbnail. Whenever someone sends me a video, I always first ask them what this video is about. Once they tell me the context of the video, I can choose to open it or not. However, there are many people that just randomly send disturbing videos and don't even say what it is about. If you don't want to view this kind of stuff, then find out what it's about before opening it.