"Social currency" — Phrase of the Week
A new sports craze is taking off in China — and it’s all about the selfies
Our phrase of the week is: “social currency” (社交货币 shè jiāo huò bì)
Context
A new sports craze is taking hold in China.
It’s called Hyrox. There’s no Chinese translation for it — it’s just known by its English name.
Hyrox is a “hybrid fitness race” (混合健身竞速赛) founded in Germany in 2017 by Christian Toetzke. It has exploded across China’s first-tier cities over the past year.
Hyrox is described as the “Olympics for the middle classes” (中产奥运) in China. The majority of participants are in the 30-to-39 age bracket, mostly urban professionals, who are also among the most active people on social media.
For them, every Hyrox event has two arenas: the physical venue, and the social media feed.
Because the real appeal is the status symbol joining a Hyrox race brings:
“Snapshots from training and race day have naturally become a new form of social currency.
China’s middle class has largely moved on from flexing luxury logos and fancy meals — now they show off the winding GPS run trackers on their fitness apps and their finishing moments at Hyrox.”
一张张备赛、参赛的照片，也能水到渠成地成为社交货币。如今，中产们早就放弃为奢侈品Logo和一顿漂亮饭拍照，转而开始展示运动App里蜿蜒的跑步轨迹和Hyrox的完赛瞬间。
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
“Social currency” is a four-character phrase which translates directly as “social” (社交 shè jiāo), “currency” (货币 huò bì).
This is one of those phrases which started life in English but has become far more widespread in Chinese than in its language of origin.
The concept builds on the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who in the 1980s developed the idea of “social capital” (社会资本) — the non-financial resources people accumulate through their networks and identity.
The specific term “social currency” was coined in 2009 by Erich Joachimsthaler, founder of New York consulting firm Vivaldi Partners, who adapted Bourdieu’s framework for the digital marketing age.
The phrase became widely known in the English speaking world after Wharton School professor, Jonah Berger, made it the first of six principles in his 2013 bestseller Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Berger defined it as how people “use social currency to win the admiration of family, friends, and colleagues”.
The Chinese translation of Contagious (疯传) was published in January 2014, which rendered “social currency” in Chinese as “社交货币”.
The phrase spread through Chinese marketing circles over the following years, becoming established vocabulary by 2018, when it was being used to analyse the rise of brands like Xiaomi (小米), which used social media to build brand and engagement with their fans and customers.
By 2019 to 2021, “social currency” had crossed over into mainstream usage. With the rise of the “aesthetics economy” (颜值经济), brands like premium ice cream maker Chicecream (钟薛高) — designed to be photographed and shared on social media — turned “social currency” into a standard way of describing why young Chinese consumers buy what they buy.
The term “social currency” fits the new Hyrox trend perfectly. For many of China’s urban middle class who take part, the race itself is only half the appeal. The training photos, the finishing-line moments, and the matching PUMA shoes, are just as important. These are the social currency they gain from taking part.
The organisers of Hyrox has done an incredible job of seizing the commercial opportunity. Photographers are stationed throughout the course. And after the race participants can buy the full set of their photos for 214 yuan ($31).
So social currency, it turns out, can also be turned into hard currency by smart brands.
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource which helps you bridge the gap to real-world fluency in Mandarin, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news. Subscribe for free here.
I have sent a copy of your article to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). They host a weekly program titled "Under The Influence". It is all about creative ways to advertise. Your latest Podcast presents a great example of people using large social networks to build their brand (I would refer to it as "face" in China). It also demonstrates that smart people will see trends like this and jump on them to create business opportunities ("Pictures of your run - $31!!!). I read every Podcast that you send me. Keep up the great work - perhaps see you on my next trip to China.
How does social currency differ from status symbol