Social media has changed how Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival. A blogger released some tips for celebrating the Chinese New Year in the Internet era, especially targeting elderly people who may find using social media a novel experience.
A netizen with the handle @xialouhetzji composed 10 tips on the "Do's and Don'ts" during the Spring Festival in the Internet era. The post was quite popular, as it garnered nearly 10,000 reposts on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter version.
The tips sound useful, with some even funny. One tip reads seniors should be the first to post pictures online of their New Year feast pictures. And when they do, their families should make sure to like these posts the moment that they are posted.
Another tip calls for families to let their seniors or elderlies take pictures of the food first before digging in.
Another tip calls for party hostesses to supply their guests with WiFi passwords as this would be the courteous thing to do.
Another funny but insightful tip is that people should refrain from sending New Year greetings on the hour so that others could just easily navigate online to get their virtual hongpaos, or cash-stuffed red envelopes online.
Digital Hongbao apps have become the phenomenon this holiday. These apps enable users to give money to children virtually through the WeChat payment system. Alipay also gives cash and online shopping coupons.
While things have turned a different kind of festive, and people do not necessarily need to see each other anymore to make one's well wishes felt, critics complained that all these online platforms and apps are commercializing the festival. There were also those who think the distance between people are widening, instead of closing. Some simply miss the old ways of spending the New Year festivities.