Question - 绿洲 app

[ouyangjun]

On my Weibo feed I’m starting to see more people use the 绿洲 app.  I’m wondering if this is something I should download, adding to a list of my Chinese social media apps (Weibo and Wechat).  As I’m scrolling through the app I’m having a bit of a hard time differentiating the use of 绿洲 (Lv Zhou) vs Weibo.  Both apps are made by the same company...  seems like a Facebook and Instagram situation.  Does anyone here know the difference between 绿洲 and Weibo, and what content is commonly posted on which?

[ouyangjun]

I may have partially answered my own question.  Online I found some people saying it is the equivalent of Instagram, but being a user of Chinese social media apps for a long time I know better than to think of the Chinese apps as a 1:1 comparison with American counterparts.  The Chinese apps are always designed in a way that is specific to China; for example anyone that says Wechat is the Chinese version of WhatsApp, or any social media platform, doesn’t know the first thing about Wechat.  After downloading the app and submitting my first post, it appears to be a curated app for certain interests, meant for users to share and experience their tastes, travels, etc..  At first glance it does seem pretty similar to Instagram, but then it goes into the realm of Chinese characteristics that I’m guessing are still being built out and developed.  You can get get these things called 水滴 (water drops).  These water drops are significantly different than Instagram.  I’m not too sure how to use them yet, but it appears you collect them based on activity in the app, likes, followers, etc., you can get more “water drops” (possibly you can buy water drops also).  These water drops in turn look like they can be used for additional benefits within the app (promoting content, giving “water drops” to people you follow, and maybe for buying things).  There is a wallet in the “water drop” page for money, of which I have zero yuan.  

 

Interested to hear if anyone else is using this app, how you use it, what you’ve noticed, etc..