Douban.com (Chinese: 豆瓣; pinyin: Dòubàn), launched on 6 March 2005, is a Chinese online database[1][2] and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film, books, music, recent events, and activities in Chinese cities. Douban is named after a Hutong in Chaoyang District, Beijing where the founder lived while he began work on the website.[3]
Douban was formerly open to both registered and unregistered users. For registered users, the website recommends potentially interesting books, movies, and music to them in addition to serving as a social network website such as WeChat, Weibo and record keeper. For unregistered users, the website is a place to find ratings and reviews of media.
Douban has about 200 million registered users as of 2013[4] and some Chinese authors as well as critics register their official personal pages on the site. The platform has been compared to other review sites such as IMDb,[5][6]Rotten Tomatoes[7][8] and Goodreads.[9][10]
Douban (Beijing Douwang Technology Co. Ltd.)[11] was founded by Yang Bo (杨勃). He majored in physics at Tsinghua University before he attended University of California, San Diego as a PhD student. After receiving his PhD in computational physics, he worked as a research scientist at IBM. Later, he returned to China, becoming the CTO of a software company founded by one of his friends.
In 2005, Yang started to create a website for travelling named Lüzong (驴宗), initially a one-person project at a Starbucks in Beijing. In a couple of months, however, the site was transformed into what is now known as Douban.com.[citation needed]
Timeline
Office of Douban.com
2005
March 6, account registration opened to the public
July 6, the traditional Chinese version of the website published
August 23, Douban Location (豆瓣同城)[13] was released to allow users to share and discover local events and activities
December 8, English version of the website opened for public testing
2013
Douban announced that Douban covered 200 million monthly independent users in the second and third quarters of 2013, double the same period last year.[14]
As of September 2013, Douban has 16.7 million book entries, 320 million movie reviews, 1.06 million music entries, 27,000 independent musicians, and 380,000 various interest groups. [15]
September 17, 2013, “Douban Dongxi"（豆瓣东西）was released[16]
Until September 2013, Douban had more than 75 million registered users, mainly from first- and second-tier cities across the country, with an average daily PV of 210 million.[17]
2016
Until the end of 2016, Douban had 150 million registered users and 300 million monthly active users[18]
Beijing Douban Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Douban.com, had a significant business information change on July 8. The shareholders and business scope changed.[20]
The company's business scope has expanded from "Internet dissemination of officially published book content" to "publishing literary original digital works, digital works consistent with the content of published publications in China," Beijing Douwang Technology Co., Ltd. [21]
Douban achieved the permission to publish original literary e-books.[21]
Controversies
Censorship
Douban has attracted a large number of intellectuals who are eager to discuss social issues. This makes Douban vulnerable to censorship by the Chinese government. Douban reviews all content posted on the website, preventing some material from being posted in the first place, and taking down other materials after the fact.[22]
Removal of the Renaissance
In March 2009, Douban removed art paintings of the Renaissance on the grounds that they contained 'pornographic' elements.[22][23][24] This led to a campaign called "Portraits: Dress up" in which internet users were asked to dress up images of famous renaissance nudes in a protest against Douban's self-censorship. The administrators then removed the discussion about the campaign.[22]
Keyword bans
That year also saw the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, and Douban further extended its keyword list to ban any terms that are likely to relate to the incident.[25][26] This angered some members, causing them to move to other similar websites that employ less strict self-censorship policies.[22]
LGBT groups
In 2011, some Chinese lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups announced that they had planned to boycott Douban as their posts announcing an LGBT-themed film festival had been censored by the website. In mainland China, films and television programs with LGBT themes are subject to state censorship.[27]
The Wandering Earth ratings
Douban has been accused that many users of Douban purposely gave The Wandering Earth, a 2019 Chinese science-fiction film, one star. Critics further accused that some users "change their given five stars to one star" and some users are paid to give one star to the film, which later turned out to be false. On 12 February 2019, Douban officially announced that "mass score-changing is abnormal and it won't be counted in the total score. To avoid such incidents, we are urgently optimizing product features." in its official SinaWeibo account.[28]
^Poulomi Ghosh (January 28, 2018). "How Secret Superstar proves China is in love with Aamir Khan". DailyO. Archived from the original on September 16, 2022.
^Kerry Allen (2020-09-24). "Heroes in Harm's Way: Covid-19 show sparks sexism debate in China". BBC. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
^Elaine Yau (January 16, 2021). "Zhang Ziyi follows Jackie Chan, Tom Cruise in playing a character much younger than she is, but fans and critics are not impressed". Yahoo! Finance, SCMP.
^Brzeski, Patrick (2018-08-12). "China Box Office: 'The Meg' Devours $50 Million During Controversial Weekend". The Hollywood Reporter.
^Jana Diesner; Yuerong Hu; Zoe LeBlanc; Ted Underwood; Glen Layne-Worthey; J. Stephen Downie (June 24, 2022). "Complexities Associated with User-generated Book Reviews in Digital Libraries: Temporal, Cultural, and Political Case Studies (page 3)" (PDF). University of Illinois School of Information Sciences.
^. NetEase. Information Times. 2009-02-10. Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
^Custer, C. (3 June 2013). "What to Expect on June 4, China's Unofficial and Orwellian 'Internet Maintenance Day'". Tech in Asia. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^Honorof, Marshall (4 June 2013). "China marks Tiananmen Massacre with 'Internet Maintenance Day'". NBC News.
^Jiang, Jessie (1 July 2011). "Beijing's Gay Community Fights Censorship". Time.
^Chen, Yuxi (2019-02-12). "《流浪地球》遭大量改分？豆瓣：前500热评仅4人跨星修改". The Paper (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-02-12.
External links
Official website(in Chinese)
Sample texts written on Douban, with English translation
April 02, 2023
douban, other, uses, disambiguation, chinese, 豆瓣, pinyin, dòubàn, launched, march, 2005, chinese, online, database, social, networking, service, that, allows, registered, users, record, information, create, content, related, film, books, music, recent, events,. For other uses see Douban disambiguation Douban com Chinese 豆瓣 pinyin Douban launched on 6 March 2005 is a Chinese online database 1 2 and social networking service that allows registered users to record information and create content related to film books music recent events and activities in Chinese cities Douban is named after a Hutong in Chaoyang District Beijing where the founder lived while he began work on the website 3 Douban豆瓣Type of siteWeb 2 0 Social network service Online music movie and book databaseAvailable inChineseKey peopleYang BoURLwww wbr douban wbr comCommercialYesRegistrationOptionalLaunchedMarch 6 2005 18 years ago 2005 03 06 Current statusActiveDouban was formerly open to both registered and unregistered users For registered users the website recommends potentially interesting books movies and music to them in addition to serving as a social network website such as WeChat Weibo and record keeper For unregistered users the website is a place to find ratings and reviews of media Douban has about 200 million registered users as of 2013 4 and some Chinese authors as well as critics register their official personal pages on the site The platform has been compared to other review sites such as IMDb 5 6 Rotten Tomatoes 7 8 and Goodreads 9 10 Contents 1 Founder 2 Timeline 3 Controversies 3 1 Censorship 3 1 1 Removal of the Renaissance 3 1 2 Keyword bans 3 1 3 LGBT groups 3 2 The Wandering Earth ratings 4 References 5 External linksFounder EditDouban Beijing Douwang Technology Co Ltd 11 was founded by Yang Bo 杨勃 He majored in physics at Tsinghua University before he attended University of California San Diego as a PhD student After receiving his PhD in computational physics he worked as a research scientist at IBM Later he returned to China becoming the CTO of a software company founded by one of his friends In 2005 Yang started to create a website for travelling named Luzong 驴宗 initially a one person project at a Starbucks in Beijing In a couple of months however the site was transformed into what is now known as Douban com citation needed Timeline Edit Office of Douban com 2005 March 6 account registration opened to the public March 8 Group 小组 12 was released March 9 the first topic appeared in the Group July 6 the traditional Chinese version of the website published August 23 Douban Location 豆瓣同城 13 was released to allow users to share and discover local events and activities December 8 English version of the website opened for public testing 2013 Douban announced that Douban covered 200 million monthly independent users in the second and third quarters of 2013 double the same period last year 14 As of September 2013 Douban has 16 7 million book entries 320 million movie reviews 1 06 million music entries 27 000 independent musicians and 380 000 various interest groups 15 September 17 2013 Douban Dongxi 豆瓣东西 was released 16 Until September 2013 Douban had more than 75 million registered users mainly from first and second tier cities across the country with an average daily PV of 210 million 17 2016 Until the end of 2016 Douban had 150 million registered users and 300 million monthly active users 18 2017 Douban launches content paid product Douban Time 豆瓣时间 19 2020 Beijing Douban Technology Co Ltd a subsidiary of Douban com had a significant business information change on July 8 The shareholders and business scope changed 20 The company s business scope has expanded from Internet dissemination of officially published book content to publishing literary original digital works digital works consistent with the content of published publications in China Beijing Douwang Technology Co Ltd 21 Douban achieved the permission to publish original literary e books 21 Controversies EditCensorship Edit Douban has attracted a large number of intellectuals who are eager to discuss social issues This makes Douban vulnerable to censorship by the Chinese government Douban reviews all content posted on the website preventing some material from being posted in the first place and taking down other materials after the fact 22 Removal of the Renaissance Edit In March 2009 Douban removed art paintings of the Renaissance on the grounds that they contained pornographic elements 22 23 24 This led to a campaign called Portraits Dress up in which internet users were asked to dress up images of famous renaissance nudes in a protest against Douban s self censorship The administrators then removed the discussion about the campaign 22 Keyword bans Edit That year also saw the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and Douban further extended its keyword list to ban any terms that are likely to relate to the incident 25 26 This angered some members causing them to move to other similar websites that employ less strict self censorship policies 22 LGBT groups Edit In 2011 some Chinese lesbian gay bisexual and transgender LGBT groups announced that they had planned to boycott Douban as their posts announcing an LGBT themed film festival had been censored by the website In mainland China films and television programs with LGBT themes are subject to state censorship 27 The Wandering Earth ratings Edit Douban has been accused that many users of Douban purposely gave The Wandering Earth a 2019 Chinese science fiction film one star Critics further accused that some users change their given five stars to one star and some users are paid to give one star to the film which later turned out to be false On 12 February 2019 Douban officially announced that mass score changing is abnormal and it won t be counted in the total score To avoid such incidents we are urgently optimizing product features in its official Sina Weibo account 28 References Edit Chan Hiu Man January 30 2019 Mary Poppins s magic could transform the Chinese cinema scene The Conversation Cardiff University To some Chinese The Interview is the greatest film in history TODAYOnline The New York Times December 27 2014 豆瓣杨勃 为梦想而一直努力 Archived from the original on 2019 01 30 Retrieved 2017 04 28 豆瓣宣布月覆盖用户数达2亿 同比增长一倍 TechWeb 2013 11 13 Retrieved 2019 01 30 Poulomi Ghosh January 28 2018 How Secret Superstar proves China is in love with Aamir Khan DailyO Archived from the original on September 16 2022 Kerry Allen 2020 09 24 Heroes in Harm s Way Covid 19 show sparks sexism debate in China BBC Retrieved 2022 09 05 Elaine Yau January 16 2021 Zhang Ziyi follows Jackie Chan Tom Cruise in playing a character much younger than she is but fans and critics are not impressed Yahoo Finance SCMP Brzeski Patrick 2018 08 12 China Box Office The Meg Devours 50 Million During Controversial Weekend The Hollywood Reporter Jana Diesner Yuerong Hu Zoe LeBlanc Ted Underwood Glen Layne Worthey J Stephen Downie June 24 2022 Complexities Associated with User generated Book Reviews in Digital Libraries Temporal Cultural and Political Case Studies page 3 PDF University of Illinois School of Information Sciences Venzo Paul Moruzi Kristine 2021 06 08 Sexuality in Literature for Children and Young Adults Deakin University Routledge p 209 ISBN 978 1 000 39349 1 豆瓣 www douban com Retrieved 2021 04 19 发现小组 Douban com 2005 03 06 Retrieved 2012 12 21 豆瓣同城 上海 Douban com 2005 03 06 Retrieved 2012 12 21 Techweb 豆瓣宣布月覆盖用户数达2亿 同比增长一倍 www techweb com cn in Chinese China Retrieved 2021 04 19 Techweb 豆瓣宣布月覆盖用户数达2亿 同比增长一倍 www techweb com cn in Chinese China Retrieved 2021 04 19 Techweb 豆瓣宣布月覆盖用户数达2亿 同比增长一倍 www techweb com cn in Chinese China Retrieved 2021 04 19 Techweb 豆瓣宣布月覆盖用户数达2亿 同比增长一倍 www techweb com cn in Chinese China Retrieved 2021 04 19 豆瓣上线内容付费产品 豆瓣时间 首推课程为北岛的诗歌课 科技 腾讯网 tech qq com Retrieved 2021 04 19 豆瓣上线内容付费产品 豆瓣时间 首推课程为北岛的诗歌课 科技 腾讯网 tech qq com Retrieved 2021 04 19 新京报 好新闻 无止境 www bjnews com cn Retrieved 2021 04 19 a b 新京报 好新闻 无止境 The Beijing News Retrieved 2021 04 19 a b c d 泥马战河蟹 草根斗权威 BBC in Chinese 2009 03 17 Retrieved 2009 03 20 给大卫像穿衣抗议政府封网 BBC中文网 2009 02 09 Retrieved 2009 02 09 网友响应反低俗号召 给名画 穿上 衣服 NetEase Information Times 2009 02 10 Archived from the original on 2009 02 13 Retrieved 2019 01 30 Custer C 3 June 2013 What to Expect on June 4 China s Unofficial and Orwellian Internet Maintenance Day Tech in Asia Retrieved 30 January 2019 Honorof Marshall 4 June 2013 China marks Tiananmen Massacre with Internet Maintenance Day NBC News Jiang Jessie 1 July 2011 Beijing s Gay Community Fights Censorship Time Chen Yuxi 2019 02 12 流浪地球 遭大量改分 豆瓣 前500热评仅4人跨星修改 The Paper in Chinese Retrieved 2019 02 12 External links EditOfficial website in Chinese Sample texts written on Douban with English translation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Douban amp oldid 1123295368, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
