Wang Kai, a microblogger who released plenty of news and photos on the Zhouqu mudslide, has become an important source for netizens and even journalists. Many people even leave messages for him asking how they can donate things to victims.

According to the China Youth Daily survey, 87 percent of people use microblogs to read about public opinion on current affairs and leave their own thoughts.

Microblogging has changed people's lives in many aspects, often for the better, one such example being the 62 percent who used microblogs to participate in charitable activities. Two thirds of users say microblogging has changed the way they make friends and communicate with others. A similar number say it has changed their way of expressing themselves and they were now able to record their thoughts anywhere, any time.

On the other hand, the authenticity of information on microblogs is still not reliable. Kuang Wenbo, a journalism professor at the Renmin University of China, says people can freely write uncensored material on microblogs so it is hard to know whether it is true or not.

Therefore, says Kuang, microblogging can only supplement traditional media and should not be used as users' main source of information.

The survey shows that 56 percent of people think information on microblogs is reliable, 23 percent are not sure, while 20 percent think it cannot be trusted.

Most users agree with Kuang's assessment - 69 percent of those surveyed said information on microblogs needed validating.