( CNN ) -- Sina Weibo , China 's most popular microblogging platform , has introduced a VIP paid membership package in an effort to monetize its vast community of 324 million users who use its services for free . The VIP membership includes fifteen `` special privileges '' under the categories of user personalization , functions , mobile phone , and security . These perks range from using fancier homepage templates , following a higher number of users , and receiving SMS birthday alerts and password reminders . Users can increasingly access these features , as they progress through six different levels of membership based on points awarded for usage . A one-month subscription is priced at 10 RMB ( US $ 1.57 ) . Discounts are offered for longer subscriptions of three months to two years . The VIP package has generally been met with muted enthusiasm by industry analysts . The free features of the site are sufficient for users , You Tianyu , an analyst at Beijing-based internet consultancy iResearch , told state newspaper , Global Times . He predicted the premium services would not be significantly profitable and recommended that Sina concentrate on advertising and gaming revenues . This move follows monetization initiatives introduced last year , such as `` Weibi '' virtual currency and `` Weihao '' custom account numbers . Sina Corporation , which also operates the popular Sina web portal , reported a net loss of US $ 13.7 million for the first quarter of 2012 , despite a 6 % year-on-year increase in net revenue to $ 106.2 million .
Sina , China 's most popular microblogging platform , has introduced a VIP paid membership package . Weibo 's VIP membership includes fifteen special features for a Q1 2012 price of 1.57 ( Weibo $ $ 13.7 million ) The move is intended to monetize Weibo , as Sina Corporation posted a Q1 2012 loss of US $ 13.7 million .