Sina Weibo Launches New Social Media Platform Oasis

Sina Weibo, famous for China’s Twitter-like microblogging platform, recently introduced a new social media platform dubbed Oasis. Oasis is positioned as a lifestyle and fashion platform, with striking similarities to Facebook’s Instagram and Chinese social e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu.

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Weibo is hoping to join the social e-commerce frenzy by leveraging its inherent advantages in social media connectivity. If successful, Oasis could generate an entirely new revenue stream for Weibo, as the company seeks to keep pace with innovation in the rest of the Chinese technology sector.

“We provide you with an oasis, which not only allows you to discover interesting things but also share the beautiful world in your eyes. So, if you are tired from the outside world, we welcome you to this oasis. Release the stress and find a better self,” published Oasis on its official Weibo account.

Oasis is specifically designed for young people, shoppers who are mostly female, with more disposable income, likely in China’s more affluent urban centers in Tier 1 and 2 cities. The platform focuses on curated, beautiful content, in the form of pictures which is very similar to the way Instagram uses its platform to market certain products.

In addition Oasis is powered by strong recommendation algorithms that will tailor the content in the “Discover” tab to the user’s preferences based on browsing history. Users can browse content based on their interest, including fashion, food, travel and beauty, while also editing and sharing photos and videos with a wide variety of filters and effects.

The company has mentioned that the current version is an open beta, with more improvements and iterations to come following feedback from users. The content on Oasis can be seamlessly synced to Weibo’s flagship platform, which seems to have reached a growth ceiling in recent years.