iWorld
Internet users in China 94 million: Survey
MUMBAI: The number of internet users in China surpassed 94 million by the end of 2004, recording a year-on-year growth of 18.2 per cent. According to a survey conducted by China Internet Network Information Center in July 2004, China has 39.4 per cent female netizens and for the male segment the figure stands at 60.6 per cent.
But that is not the case with Hong Kong and Macao. The number of internet users in these two regions stood at 51 per cent and 46 per cent respectively at the end of 2004.
Age-wise, more than 50 per cent of internet users in China are below 25 on the mainland, in Hong Kong it is 39 per cent and in Macao it stands at 51 per cent. In China, 32 per cent of the internet users are students.
According to the survey, approximately 67.9 per cent of netizens surf from home. About 40 per cent surf in offices, internet cafes and schools. In China people surf the web mainly to check e-mails, read news and gather information. About 6.3 per cent say they use the internet for educational purposes.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
