Website business manager Shao Yibei describes herself as "a tiny waterdrop in the ocean of Chinese netizens longing to shine". And this tiny waterdrop has shone. And shone brilliantly.
The 26-year-old music lover had a five-minute video clip uploaded on the internet in February, in which she was singing while playing on a self-composed song about an urban single woman’s attitude towards marriage.
Shao Yibei said, "My friend uploaded the clip just for fun. But none of us expected what would happen the next day".
The response from the virtual world was overwhelming, with more than 300,000 hits during the first couple of days. Shao also received thousands of "friend requests" on her blog.
Movie producers invited Shao to compose songs even when her first album is getting readied.
She said, "I feel difficult to communicate with others in real life, so music is my way of expression. But it’s the internet that makes me ‘heard’."
Shao is now best known as folk singer and blogger "Shao Xiaomao". It is fairly certain she is shown in the picture but tracking down her website was difficult beyond belief.
China National News reports the internet has broadened the information channels for the general public, and as Chen Jiangong, a CNNIC senior analyst, says, "more importantly, the distribution of information is interactive and real-time".