ChinaSMACK
{{Short description|Blog covering Chinese internet culture}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{Infobox website
| name = chinaSMACK
| logo = ChinaSMACK blog logo version with black background.jpg
| logocaption =
| screenshot =
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| url = {{URL|www.chinasmack.com}}
| commercial =
| type = blog
| registration =
| language = English (comments dual English/Mandarin)
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|2008|df=no}}
| founder = Fauna
| revenue =
| current_status = Defunct (as of 2016)
| footnotes =
}}
chinaSMACK was a blog that covered Chinese internet culture, trends, and discussion. It was founded and run in Shanghai, China, by a woman under the Internet handle "Fauna",{{Cite web|last=Cannon|first=Maile|last2=Yang|first2=Jingying|date=2010-02-24|title=Bloggers Open an Internet Window on Shanghai|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/technology/25iht-rshanblog.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227024626/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/technology/25iht-rshanblog.html|archive-date=2021-02-27|website=New York Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2013-08-29|title=Too Weird To Be True? In China, You Never Can Tell|url=https://www.keranews.org/2013-08-29/too-weird-to-be-true-in-china-you-never-can-tell|access-date=2022-02-18|website=NPR, KERA News|language=en}} though its server was based in California, United States.{{Cite web|title=Whois Record for ChinaSmack.com|url=https://whois.domaintools.com/chinasmack.com|access-date=2022-02-18|website=DomainTools.com}}{{Cite web|last=Domier|first=Sharon|date=October 18, 2017|title=Research Guides: CHI351: Social Issues Project: News/Newspapers|url=https://libguides.smith.edu/chi351/news|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529170538/https://libguides.smith.edu/chi351/news|archive-date=May 29, 2020|website=Smith College|language=en}} Most of its content was composed of trending Chinese-language internet news articles, social media posts, and Chinese netizen comments that had been translated into English, making it accessible to audiences who could not read Mandarin Chinese. It was known for its raw, unfiltered, and often controversial coverage of what becomes popular on the Chinese internet and trends in Chinese netizen sentiments on a broad spectrum of subject-matter.{{cite news|date=October 31, 2008|title=CHINASMACK: A Taste of China's Internet|work=Time|url=https://world.time.com/2008/10/31/chinasmack-a-taste-of-chinas-internet/|access-date=October 15, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115212128/https://world.time.com/2008/10/31/chinasmack-a-taste-of-chinas-internet/|archive-date=January 15, 2021}}{{cite web|date=February 17, 2010|title=China 'bridge blogs' translating web views|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hTBykaJB1uiWdSU6fvpIycWO_U9g|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906072342/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hTBykaJB1uiWdSU6fvpIycWO_U9g|archive-date=September 6, 2011|access-date=October 15, 2012|website=Agence France-Presse}} Fauna, the founder, stated in an interview that her intention in creating the site was to both practice her English and "expose foreigners to stories that interested Chinese people."
The site was popular among expats in China{{Cite web|last=Kim Rahn|date=2012-04-05|title=‘What Koreans are talking about, so are we‘|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/02/719_108427.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517232752/https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2012/04/178_108427.html|archive-date=2021-05-17|website=The Korea Times|language=en}} and, according to its founder in 2010, roughly 32% of chinaSMACK's readers were from the USA, 16% were from China, 6% were from Canada, and 5% were from the UK.{{Cite web|last=Tiffany Ap|date=2010-07-26|title=The Wild, Wile Web: Ever-Elusive, chinaSMACK founder Fauna|url=https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2010/07/26/wild-wile-web-ever-elusive-chinasmack-founder-fauna|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218040358/https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2010/07/26/wild-wile-web-ever-elusive-chinasmack-founder-fauna|archive-date=2022-02-18|website=The Beijinger|language=EN}} Its first post was published on July 9, 2008. Since then, the site had inspired sister blogs (all defunct as of 2016), koreaBANG, indoBOOM, russiaSLAM, and japanCRUSH which adopted chinaSMACK's editorial mission and format for their respective countries and netizen populations.{{Cite web|last=Darren Wee|date=2012-04-11|title=New Website Shows Korea's Dark Side|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/darren-wee/korea_b_1413290.html|website=HuffPost UK|language=en}}
Notable media and publications that have sourced and cited chinaSMACK include The New York Times, BBC,{{cite news|date=January 22, 2010|title=China's web users debate internet freedom|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8475519.stm|access-date=October 15, 2012}} CNN,{{cite news|title=Yale alum's gift stirs reaction in China |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/12/yale.donation/index.html|access-date=October 15, 2012 | date=January 12, 2010}} AFP, The Telegraph,{{Cite web|title=Websites that are windows in China's great firewall|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7290938/Websites-that-are-windows-in-Chinas-great-firewall.html|access-date=2022-02-22|website=www.telegraph.co.uk}} The Wall Street Journal,{{Cite news|date=2012-01-07|title=China Watch: Ai's Taxes, China Mobile's Struggles, the Tears of a Child Gymnast|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-CJB-14950|access-date=2022-02-22|issn=0099-9660}} Time, The Economist,{{cite news|date=January 18, 2011|title=Mr Hu goes to Washington|work=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/asiaview/2011/01/china_and_america}} and The Colbert Report.{{cite web|title=chinasmack-featured-on-the-colbert-report.jpg|url=http://img.chinasmack.com/www/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/chinasmack-featured-on-the-colbert-report.jpg|access-date=October 15, 2012}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cc.com/video-clips/b9m4e5/the-colbert-report-threatdown---interdimensional-black-people--gay-strokes---manipulative-sicko-monkeys|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222015252/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/b9m4e5/the-colbert-report-threatdown---interdimensional-black-people--gay-strokes---manipulative-sicko-monkeys|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 22, 2016|title = ThreatDown - Interdimensional Black People, Gay Strokes & Manipulative Sicko Monkeys - the Colbert Report|date = May 11, 2012}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}