Chinese tech-companies “bribe” self-media on WeChat
PR people from internet companies would start group chats on WeChat with media people (sometimes the amount of media people reaches more than a hundred), especially self-media people, and ask them to share PR articles in their Moments, using their media power to promote publicity, said an anonymous source. PR people would sent red pocket money on WeChat to those who have shared articles and the total amount of money could reach as high as 10 thousand yuan. Moreover, according to the source, PR people would sometimes ask those media people to write for them and pay them via red pocket money.
When self-media first boosted in China, many people lauded it as the coming of “we the media” era and hoped for a more liberal media environment in China. However, in the commercial society, it seems still a dream far from coming true.