The University of Sydney Union launched an official WeChat account during OWeek, in a bid to engage with the Chinese students’ community on campus.
WeChat is a growing mobile app and the most common social media platform among Chinese-speaking students.
“The University of Sydney has a significant Chinese-speaking population,” USU President Michael Rees told Honi.
“We know that some international students face problems of isolation and a lot of that comes down to language barriers.
“We see this launch as a really important step in improving our communication and engagement with our Chinese members.”
Proposed by Chinese board director Koko Kong, the WeChat platform has been providing regular updates about student programs, events and employment opportunities as well as information on campus activities, news and student life at the University.
The account is currently managed by two experienced Chinese-speaking editors and has more than 1000 followers, a significant number for a new WeChat account.
During her campaign last year, Kong spoke about the need to transcend the communication barrier between international and domestic students, and proposed a language-friendly platform for international students to get information about the campus.
This seems to be a rare case of a board director actually coming good on an election promise.
