Physical Exposures to Political Protests Impact Civic Engagement: Evidence from 13 Quasi-Experiments with Chinese Social Media

This article examines the creation and utilization of subversive expressions by Chinese Internet users amid heavy censorship. While these expressions may potentially lead to collective resistance, so far they have not been subjected to systematic examination. A grounded analysis of 270 Weibo posts that relate to nine prevalent subversive keywords demonstrates how sporadic modes of playful civic engagement consolidate as shared symbolic infrastructures. The expressions construct a systematic “counter-hierarchical” social ladder; participants express identification with the groups that are least governmental, while clearly dissociating themselves from those connected to the regime. At the same time, the expressions reveal a set of contradictory values, shedding light on the challenges facing both “the Chinese Dream” and the prospect of social change.

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‘Gene-edited babies’ is one of the most censored topics on Chinese social media

Nature ◽

10.1038/d41586-019-00607-x ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David Cyranoski

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Chinese Social Media

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The factors influencing the diffusion of tourism contents on Chinese social media : focusing on Seoul tourism contents of Sina Weibo

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Studies ◽

10.31667/jhts.2019.2.78.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Sunyoung Hlee ◽

Ao Cheng ◽

Namho Chung ◽

Chulmo Koo

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Sina Weibo ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

Chinese Social Media

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Chinese Social Media Platforms and Microblogging in the Context of Public Diplomacy

Communicology ◽

10.21453/2311-3065-2020-8-1-167-179 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 167-179

Author(s):

E.S. Nadezhkina

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Public Opinion ◽

Public Diplomacy ◽

User Generated Content ◽

The Internet ◽

Interactive Communication ◽

Network Interaction ◽

Social Media Platforms ◽

The Right ◽

Chinese Social Media

The term “digital public diplomacy” that appeared in the 21st century owes much to the emergence and development of the concept of Web 2.0 (interactive communication on the Internet). The principle of network interaction, in which the system becomes better with an increase in the number of users and the creation of user-generated content, made it possible to create social media platforms where news and entertainment content is created and moderated by the user. Such platforms have become an expression of the opinions of various groups of people in many countries of the world, including China. The Chinese segment of the Internet is “closed”, and many popular Western services are blocked in it. Studying the structure of Chinese social media platforms and microblogging, as well as analyzing targeted content is necessary to understand China’s public opinion, choose the right message channels and receive feedback for promoting the country’s public diplomacy. This paper reveals the main Chinese social media platforms and microblogging and provides the assessment of their popularity, as well as possibility of analyzing China’s public opinion based on “listening” to social media platforms and microblogging.

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The era of baokuan films: How Chinese social media creates box office successes

Journal of Chinese Cinemas ◽

10.1080/17508061.2021.1926153 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Xiao Yang

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Box Office ◽

Chinese Social Media

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Does Social Media Engagement Translate to Civic Engagement Offline?

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0899764021999444 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089976402199944

Author(s):

Jaclyn Piatak ◽

Ian Mikkelsen

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Civic Engagement ◽

Presidential Election ◽

Civic Participation ◽

Political Engagement ◽

Political Campaigns ◽

The Internet ◽

Online Engagement ◽

Informal Volunteering ◽

Using Data

People increasingly engage in politics on social media, but does online engagement translate to offline engagement? Research is mixed with some suggesting how one uses the internet maters. We examine how political engagement on social media corresponds to offline engagement. Using data following the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, we find the more politically engaged people are on social media, the more likely they are to engage offline across measures of engagement—formal and informal volunteering, attending local meetings, donating to and working for political campaigns, and voting. Findings offer important nuances across types of civic engagement and generations. Although online engagement corresponds to greater engagement offline in the community and may help narrow generational gaps, this should not be the only means to promote civic participation to ensure all have a voice and an opportunity to help, mobilize, and engage.

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Uncovering the low-profile #MeToo movement: Towards a discursive politics of empowerment on Chinese social media

Global Media and China ◽

10.1177/20594364211031443 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 205943642110314

Author(s):

Xiao Han

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Chinese Context ◽

Feminist Politics ◽

Low Profile ◽

Potential Possibility ◽

Collective Reading ◽

Discursive Politics ◽

Nuanced Understanding ◽

Chinese Social Media

In China, a few posts related to #MeToo movement survived and remained online well after its peak and the state’s response in July 2018. This article proposes a theoretical framework that pays attention to discursive meaning-making and employs a broad notion of empowerment, referred to as ‘empowerment through discourse’, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the low-profile #MeToo movement in the Chinese context. This framework is used to analyse a corpus of uncensored #MeToo material, which appeared on Chinese social media. This article combines a discourse analysis of these posts and interviews with feminists from activist collectives to critically examine feminist empowerment by reflecting on survivor/victim narration and storytelling practices, digital media’s capacity to facilitate critical dialogue between witnesses and survivors/victims and activist collectives’ organising role in opening up a dialogic space for collective reading, listening and healing. These reflections lead to broader considerations on how notions of empowerment can spur collective action and structural change. In short, this article demonstrates the potential possibility of discursive change and reflects on this mode of feminist politics as a way to speak to empowerment in the Chinese context.

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