As the internet becomes an essential channel for young people to participate in social activities, many young internet users in China are using their spare time to promote positive energy online and help others.

By making the most of their interests and expertise, young Chinese internet users from various social sectors play their part in innovative concepts and practices of online interaction, spreading love and advancing social development in such ways as making anti-fraud videos, participating in programs for public good, sharing knowledge, and posting shopping experiences.

Online anti-fraud videos

"There is no such thing as a free lunch. Don't listen to or believe such claims and never transfer money to strangers," said Zhu Yanping while smiling in front of the camera.

"Perfect," Zhu's husband, Li Dongjie, said to his wife. Putting down the script, he added, "I bet viewers will remember our video and never fall for clickbait!"

Zhu, who is 29 years old, is not an actress, but a policewoman from the command center of the Public Security Bureau (PSB) of Liuyang City, central China's Hunan Province. Her job is to answer calls, make preliminary judgments about the situation at hand, and command and dispatch police officers to deal with the cases on the spot.

To improve people's safety consciousness and prevent personal injury and property damage, Zhu decided to make videos about safety. She integrated safety knowledge into the lines and created a series of videos.

Zhu didn't receive many views at first, which made her worry about the effect of her efforts.

One day, Zhu received a private letter from a netizen on a social media platform, who thanked her for the videos, saying, "luckily, I've watched your videos; otherwise, I would have been fooled."

Zhu was encouraged by the letter, and made more short safety videos. As her videos started to attract more viewers, Zhu began to add more topics that people cared about in her videos.

At the beginning of 2019, Zhu's videos were included on the list of outstanding short-video accounts of excellent new media in the field of politics and law by the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Plant trees by counting steps

The No.1 Ant Forest in Alxa League,  Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/People's Daily Online)

There are a total of 129,500 lush, green saxaul plants in the No.1 Ant Forest in Alxa League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. These trees were "planted" by the first batch of participants of Ant Forest, a mini-program and green initiative launched by the world's leading payment platform Alipay in China.

Shen Junliang, a young man from east China's Zhejiang Province, was among the first users of Ant Forest. He has so far "planted" 14 trees in many places of Inner Mongolia, during the past three years, including Alxa League, Ordos, Kubuqi Desert, and Horqin Right Middle Banner.

Shen joined the program in August 2016, when he was in college and weighed 139 kilograms. In order to lose weight, he started to jog every day. A short time after, Shen discovered the mini-program, and found that his step count could be converted into "green energy" and used to plant a virtual tree online. And when the virtual tree accumulated enough energy, a real tree would be planted, helping protect the environment.

"I suddenly felt fresh impetus to exercise every day, for it not only makes me healthier, but also helps me play a part in environmental protection," said Shen, who started to walk and jog every day regardless of the weather.

Thanks to his perseverance, Shen lost 35 kilograms in about six months, and 54 kilograms in three years.

Besides Ant Forest, Shen has also taken part in similar programs on social media platforms, including WeChat and QQ, donating his step count, which is usually more than 10,000 steps per day, towards various public welfare projects launched online.

"I hope I can visit the places where my trees grow in the future. I also hope more people will take part in these programs. Every step we take, every time we touch the screen, we are helping to add more green to the world," said Shen.

Writing product reviews

30-year-old Yang Bingqing works in a foreign-funded company in Yuzhong District of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. Yu is a warm-hearted person who enjoys writing online reviews in her spare time.

"The information I offer can help more people enjoy great things. It's worth the effort," said Yang, who disclosed that once she went to a small but delicate tea shop located in a quiet downtown area, and wrote a review about her experience in the shop as she found the tea there was pleasantly distinctive. To her surprise, the tea shop, which had almost closed down for lack of customers, gradually saw an increase in popularity.

"I didn't know a review could have such great influence. It made me feel a sense of achievement," said Yang.

Yang's reviews are not all positive. Sometimes she also writes negative reviews and offers suggestions when she visits popular stores and finds the products and services are not all they are cracked up to be.

"As long as it is not too bad, why bother commenting," said some of Yang's friends, confused about Yang's insistence on writing online reviews. However, Yang has her own ideas.

"Writing reviews online is part of my life in cyberspace. My reviews can not only help other consumers, but also urge shop owners to improve their services. In this way, I record my own life while spreading positive energy online," Yang stressed.