In December 2019, a Chinese doctor working in Wuhan noticed COVID-19 and issued a warning about the danger of the virus but his warnings were dismissed as rumor by the Chinese local authority. A Taiwanese user, however, screenshot his warning posted in Weibo and reposted it on PTT. The image circulated and a Taiwanese government official in charge of the health sector happened to come across it. He examined the source and councluded the information as reliable enough and reported it to his boss. This led the government to take very early measures against COVID-19. So, it is not an exaggeration that PTT protects Taiwan from the virus.

While young people today in Japan are politically disengaged, Taiwanese counterparts are very engaged in politics. The contrast is very sharp: few Japanese students are engaged in political activity but Taiwanese students vote or engage in a much more active form of political participation. They get to the street, if the government doesn’t reflect the public opinions on their policy, and go vote. According to a survey, as many as 90% of Taiwanese people in their 20s went to vote. This means PTT serves as an important tool to shape public opinions and to engage in political activities such as protest.