【Watch What Every Frenchwoman Wants Online】

If you've spent any time on Watch What Every Frenchwoman Wants OnlineChinese social media, you would've found it impossible to miss this unique style of reaction images.

They're often cartoonishly drawn outlines around a black-and-white photo, and they've become a part of everyday usage on platforms like Weibo and Wechat.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Turns out, this image style has been a decade in the making, from its start as a 4chan-inspired meme, to the most enduring piece of Chinese digital culture.

SEE ALSO: 'The Emoji Movie' inserts itself into 'Handmaid's Tale' because brands are dumb

The comic's start can be traced to Wang Nima, the pseudonymous founder of a rage comic-style webtoon site called Baozou Manhua, which literally translates to "rage comics."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The site was founded in 2008, after U.S.-based Wang realised there wasn't yet anything like a rage comic in China's nascent social media scene that could succinctly express emotions as efficiently.

"I think the essence of [rage comics] is in helping people express their discontent towards some things -- it exaggerates.

"I intend to give the masses a 'spear', so they can say hi to creativity," he said in a 2012 interview.

Wang's website has since grown exponentially -- it now has nearly 9 million fans on Weibo, and claims to have nearly a billion views on all the videos it has produced, according to its website.

Via Giphy

Baozou Manhuaalso reshares viral user-generated content on its Weibo account and website, meaning its trove of pictures will virtually never run dry.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

We've now seen popular actors get worked into the fold. Here are the photos of several popular Asian actors -- from Chinese singer Jacky Cheung, to Filipino actor Gerry Alanguilan, and Korean actor Choi Seong-guk appropriated in hilarious forms:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

But the humble reaction image took a while to take off in the country.

Meng Qiang, the 24-year-old founder of UBiaoQing, a Chinese search engine for reaction images, said back in 2008, people were still on dumb phones and couldn't send and receive pictures on their mobiles.

Rage comics were mainly circulated on the desktop.

But with Weibo, a Twitter-like network, Chinese rage comics could really take off.

"There are some situations when you just can't get your point across with just some words and emoji," said Meng.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Meng's UBiaoQing website and WeChat mini-program now has around 8,000 to 10,000 visitors a day; his search engine looks for reaction images online using crawlers, and automatically tags them when they're uploaded by moderators.

Meng added that celebrities are now adapting these reaction images to engage with fans.

"Most celebrities welcome the public's use of their looks in reaction images, and openly use reaction images with their pictures on them," he said.

Authorities are starting to use popular reaction images to communicate, too. A civil defence department made a set of reaction images featuring firemen last year, while Beijing highway police used rage comics in public service messages as early as 2013.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

To engage readers, state-run news outlets and bloggers are also using reaction images in their articles.

"It's a sign of their variety and how interesting they are, and how they're leading a trend," Meng adds. "Reaction images are suited for people of different ages and communities...and I think reaction image culture is only going to become more colourful and well-loved."

---

Featured Video For You

---

Is this the new fidget spinner?

---

• Games
• Tech
• Deals
• Shopping
• Social Good
• Digital Culture
• Life
• Science

• Best Soundcore by Anker Space A40 earbuds deal: Save $35 at Amazon
• A Snapchat drone?! Here's what we know
• CNN will bring journalism students to the White House Correspondents' Dinner
• Man sentenced to 30 days in prison for accidentally hitting woman with his drone
• Chiefs vs. Texans 2025 livestream: Watch NFL Playoffs for free
• A Snapchat drone?! Here's what we know
• Zara's 'love your curves' advert is pissing off the internet
• Having trouble online today? Blame Amazon.
• VidCon 2025: Creators share their mistakes and lessons learned
• Gloria Steinem refuses to talk sh*t about Emma Watson, obviously

• Jhumpa Lahiri on Her Work as a Translator
• Staff Picks: Smugglers, Lovers, and Dead Husbands
• The Book Jean
• Seeing Beyond the Tip of Your Nose
• Will There Ever Be Another Writer Like Philip Roth?
• Ten Superstitions of Writers and Artists
• Helen DeWitt Lacerates the Literary World
• Poetry Rx: I Wish You a Tongue Scalded by Tea
• You, Too, Can Live in Norman Mailer’s House
• May ’68: A Great Lyrical Community

• The White House might have inflated Trump's golf record, because this is how we live now
• Warren Buffett: 'If a lady says no, she means maybe'
• Morphing 'tent house' is all your tree change daydreams realised
• Apple dropping lightning for a USB
• Lehecka vs. Dimitrov 2025 livestream: Watch Brisbane International for free
• Weapons and ammo in 'Horizon: Zero Dawn' are confusing, so here's a guide
• Get ready to see less #ad and #spon on Instagram
• Adele invites drag impersonator on stage to belt tunes and take selfies
• Best Soundcore by Anker Space A40 earbuds deal: Save $35 at Amazon
• Alternatives to the pussy hat if you're honestly too embarrassed to wear one

• Internet for All
• Basically everyone reuses their passwords
• 7 young black innovators changing the world through entrepreneurship
• Saudi Arabia's king is bringing a massive 1,500
• Best Echo Show 5 deal: Save $20 at Amazon
• Facebook ready to ramp up flights of its solar
• Zara's 'love your curves' advert is pissing off the internet
• Mindset headphones train listeners to concentrate better
• How to make a hook in a TikTok video
• A Snapchat drone?! Here's what we know