Baidu Tieba

Baidu Tieba uses forums called bars (which are analogous to Reddit subreddits In many cases the topic of discussion on Baidu Tieba forums has little to do with the title of the bar. According to Alexa Internet in 2007, traffic to Baidu Tieba then made up more than 10% of the total traffic to Baidu properties. ==Functions==

Every bar can have up to three masters, thirty vice-masters, and ten video-masters to manage uploaded videos. Users can post, at most, ten pictures and one video quoted from certain broadcast websites. Users cannot edit any published posts. However, users can delete their own published posts and comments from other users on their posts. Beyond regular text posts, Baidu Tieba allows for the use of polls. Every bar has its own 2GB space for members to upload videos. If a bar is ranked within the top 500 of the official rankings, it has its own album. Like Reddit, Baidu Tieba forms are moderated by unpaid volunteers, who are allowed to set the rules of the bar, remove comments and posts considered disruptive, among other functions. The onus is on service providers to police and remove such content. Baidu Tieba is no exception and warns users against the dangers of spreading false information, suggesting it is done for notoriety as well as commercial and political gain. Baidu Tieba also has a consumer-to-consumer e-commerce sale function, which had led it to be likened to Craigslist. By 2021 Tieba had launched a feature allowing approved users to upload short-form video content. ==History==

Baidu Tieba was released to the public around December 1, 2003. as well as its campaigns to flood/spam rival Tieba bars Tieba became notable on the Chinese internet for its numerous controversies. In 2017, Baidu Tieba was investigated by the Beijing Municipal Cyberspace Administration because users were allegedly using it to "spread terror-related material, rumours and obscenities". It has previously been summoned by the Ministry of Public Security for concerns including "inadequate security management and prominent issues such as illegal information involving firearms and explosives, the sale of citizens' personal information, and pornography". In 2018, a man used Baidu Tieba to solicit a hitman for an unsuccessful plot to murder his wife. A 2025 Vice News article stated that Baidu Tieba "was often used for criminality", while a 2021 journal article stated that Tieba was known as a place where "victims can share their experiences of being victimized and warn other potential victims". Baidu Tieba began to decline in traffic beginning in 2012. By 2019, its traffic had declined substantially relative to its heyday, having only tens of million rathers than hundreds of million of active users, with other platforms like Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu and Zhihu having gained prominence. By this time, the homepage of the website was "dominated by advertisements and live streams". On May 13, 2019, topics posted in Baidu Tieba before January 1, 2017 were hidden. By 2021, it had lost nearly 90% of its userbase compared to 2015, down to only 37.43 million monthly active users. This decline has been attributed to several factors, including competition from rival platforms, heavy-handed moderation by Baidu administrators, excessive demands of volunteer moderators (who at one point were demanded by Baidu to fulfil "a 2% daily increase in daily forum visitors, a 3% daily increase in the number of new topics, a 5% daily increase in the number of replies, and a 1% daily increase in check-ins." in bars/forums they moderated or face removal from their moderator position), and excessive commercialisation. ==International development==

Baidu Postbar is the international version of Baidu Tieba. In order to expand its commercial domain, Baidu Postbar has been introduced to several countries listed below: • Baidu Tieba Brazil • Baidu Tieba Thailand • Baidu Tieba Vietnam • Baidu Tieba Japan In late 2011, the Japanese version of Baidu Postbar was shut down. Since May 2015, all logins are disabled on the Vietnamese version of Baidu Postbar. ==References==