Taking the Internet

WHEN Zhang Dayi was called to the stage at Alibaba's Global Netrepreneur Conference in Hangzhou on Tuesday, it was clear to the audience that she was a different breed of speaker.

As she sauntered onstage in a modish black dress, she held up a smartphone using a selfie stick and said "hi" to her fans - but these fans were not physically at the conference; they were watching her through a live-streaming mobile app.

Ever the media-savvy personality, Ms Zhang made sure to pan her smartphone camera over to Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who was in the front row of the audience, right before she too…