Italian fashion blogger Roberto Derosao has a large fanbase on Chinese social media. Photo: Li Hao/GT

To his 679,817 followers on Sina Weibo, Hollywood heartthrob and erstwhile star of international blockbusters Inception (2010) and 500 Days of Summer (2009) Joseph Gordon-Levitt is affectionately known by the nickname jiongsefu.

The Chinese character jiong ( 囧 ) means "frustrated" or "depressed," while sefu is a phonetic translation of the "seph" in Joseph. Gordon-Levitt was given the epithet after some fans cheekily noted that the actor's face resembled the pictogram for jiong.

To their delight, Gordon-Levitt acknowledged the nickname in a message on the social media platform in July 2012. It not only showed that he was in on the joke, but helped endear himself further to his legions of Chinese-speaking fans.

According to Mao Taotao, a marketing employee for Weibo, there are currently more than 2,000 international public figures who have accounts on the social media platform, from famous entertainers such as Taylor Swift and James Blunt, to high-profile names in finance and public policy like Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. 

"More and more international celebrities are recognizing the importance of the Chinese market, and are joining Chinese social media to interact with Chinese fans and build their popularity in China," said Mao.

Mao said that global stars like Gordon-Levitt were using Chinese social media in increasingly sophisticated ways to establish a closer relationship between themselves and their followers.

"They mix English and Chinese in their posts, and interact with other celebrities [on Weibo] to boost each other's popularity," said Mao. "They also post their personal lives to create a closer connection with Chinese fans…some of them even post about cultural trends or jokes that are unique to China."

Retired English footballer David Beckham, one of China's most popular social media celebrities due to his willingness to share details from his family life, shares an intimate moment with his daughter Harper Seven Beckham. Photo: IC

Fandom across borders

Last year, Sina Weibo set up a department specifically for the purpose of handling matters concerning international celebrity accounts, said Mao.

The department's tasks included organizing online interviews with the overseas stars to discuss popular trends, and providing opportunities for the public figures to interact with their followers online.  

A number of digital marketing and PR firms have also stepped in to help overcome cultural and language barriers and facilitate communication between international celebrities and their Chinese fans.

One of the largest, FansTang, represents around 200 such celebrities, including Paris Hilton, who has more than 5 million followers on Weibo, and Taylor Swift, who has over 3 million followers.

According to an earlier Global Times report, FansTang is responsible for translating celebrities' posts on Twitter and Facebook into Chinese, and re-posting their comments on Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo and WeChat Moments.

The agency, which has offices in Los Angeles, Beijing and Shanghai, also selects and translates comments from Chinese fans for their clients to respond to.    

One of the most popular international celebrities on Chinese social media is the retired English footballer David Beckham. With over 5 million followers on Weibo, each of Beckham's posts are commented on and forwarded thousands of times.

Beckham even has an online fan club in China, founded in 1998 by then 18-year-old Zi Yan (pseudonym).

Zi said that one of the reasons for Beckham's online popularity in China was because of his willingness to share aspects of his private life with his social media followers.

"He always posts [pictures] of his regal-looking wife Victoria and of his cute children, especially of his youngest daughter. The posts about his life make us feel closer to him," Zi said. "[Beckham's] fans are mainly made up of girls born between 1990 and 2000. They admire his family a lot - the fact that he is handsome but also a responsible husband and [father]."

Personal interaction

However Hong Bo, a 40-year-old independent Internet analyst in Beijing, said that with the rare exception of those like Gordon-Levitt and Beckham, most of the interactions between international celebrities and Chinese fans were superficial and limited.

He pointed to the fact that although many global stars had hundreds of thousands or millions of fans on Weibo, most received very few comments in response to their posts.  

Hong said the lack of interaction was because many international stars neglected their accounts for long periods.

"Most of them only send out posts when they have a new record or film coming out," said Hong. "Some have even abandoned their accounts completely, like Tom Cruise and Ellen [DeGeneres]."

Hong said that few international celebrities posted details about their personal lives, or took the time to respond personally to fans. 

"The content of the posts are usually just official [promotional] information, with no personal attachment.

This isn't enough to get Chinese fans' attention."

Roberto Derosao, a 27-year-old fashion blogger based in Milan, Italy who has nearly 110,000 followers on Weibo, said that the key to building up a loyal fan base on Chinese social media was to be active and accessible.

"I talk to my Chinese fans a lot," he said. "For every two or three comments I receive, I will reply [to one] with the help of some friends who can speak Chinese…Once my fans find [that I'm] friendly, more fans start to talk to me and follow me."

Derosao, whose background is in public relations in fashion and fashion photography, said that he had no public profile when he initially signed up to Weibo, but was surprised by how quickly and enthusiastically his online followers responded to his posts.

"Chinese fans are warmer than Italian fans, they [often] talk to me and leave messages under my posts," said Derosao, who has also kept an Italian-language Instagram account since 2012. "Most Italians don't do that. They just slide by."

What makes fans tick

Ma Liang, the 31-year-old Australian Chinese author of adolescent novels Red and Yellow, has over 2 million fans on Weibo. He agreed that responsiveness and willingness to share details from one's personal life are essential to building up a strong following on social media.

Ma, who is better-known by his penname, "Anthony," said he frequently posts about writing, cooking and drawing, and sometimes also re-posts messages that had been sent to him by fans. 

"[The important thing] is to be authentic in your posts, and to post regularly," said Ma.

Mao said that social media had completely changed the way people communicate, and that it created opportunities for ordinary people to speak to a large audience.

Derosao concurred that his Internet celebrity in China had opened a number of doors for him.

"I got invited to many fashion shows by some famous brands like Coach," Derosao said.

"The Italian branch of Elle even invited me to write a column about China."

He said that his approach to social media was to be "naked" - sometimes literally.

Along with posts about his views on fashion and snippets from events he attends, Derosao's Weibo account is littered with windows into his personal life, including pictures of him coming out of the shower. "Sexy works," said Derosao. "So some sexy photos can attract a lot of fans!"