网友 wǎngyǒu online friend
online friend; netizen; Internet user
How to remember 网友: 网 net + 友 friend = online friend.
Characters
How it is used
- Refers either to a specific friend made online, or collectively to internet users/netizens commenting on something.
- 网友们纷纷评论 (wǎngyǒumen fēnfēn pínglùn) - netizens commented one after another; this collective sense is extremely common in news and social media.
- As "a friend met online", it once implied a stranger you'd never met in person, though the word has broadened with social media.
- Different from 笔友 (bǐyǒu, pen pal) - 网友 is specifically internet-based, not postal.