Positive words lift students from gloom

Groups on the WeChat social messaging platform that offer compliments when misfortune strikes have become popular among college students in China.

Known as kuakua groups, they are used by students when something bad happens. Other students respond to their posts by trying to point out the silver linings in the clouds.

"I just failed at a job interview. Need compliment," said one message posted by a student at Tongji University in Shanghai.

"Thank God you did not end up in that lousy company," another student replied. "You will find a much better job next time," another said.

"I was almost hit by a car. Need compliment," one student said.

"Those who survive a disaster are bound to have good fortune," someone replied.

When a student said he was dumped by his girlfriend, others told him all the benefits he stood to gain. Students even post pictures of themselves to seek compliments, with replies listing all the qualities that make him or her stand out from the crowd.

A second-year graduate student at Tongji University surnamed Wang founded the first kuakua group at the university recently after similar groups became popular at other universities.

In the beginning, Wang added his friends and classmates to the group and they started to add their own friends and classmates. Now there are three kuakua groups at the university - more than 1,000 people altogether - he said.

"People come to the group to seek consolation and happiness," Wang said. "Life can be stressful, and after joking around and being complimented by others, you will feel much better."

Tian Jiayin, 22, frequently compliments other students on Wang's kuakua group.

"The group allows me to see the good qualities in myself that I often overlook and look at the bright side of everything," he said. "Kindness from strangers can help me feel much better. It is a joy to receive compliments, and giving others compliments is also very rewarding. A small compliment goes a long way."

Cao Yifei, 19, said, "My friend and I also try to compliment each other in real life and we have become closer as we focus on the good side."

Similar groups can also be found at other universities. Wang Jiahao, 22, at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said there were now around eight kuakua groups there, with a total of more than 3,000 students.

Fudan University in Shanghai, Communication University of China in Beijing, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province, also have their own kuakua groups.

Deng Jianguo, an associate professor of communication at Fudan University, said students seek compliments online because they do not get enough of them in real life.

Chinese people tend to be conservative and reluctant to give others compliments, and the groups give people the opportunity to compliment others in a skillful way, he said.