Changing public opinion—a study of the impact of Sina Weibo on the formation of public opinion in Mainland China Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Background Public opinion, as a key notion of Habermas (1989)’ Public Sphere Theory, refers to a collective consensus view about social issues. As the generation of public opinion entails acquiring information about the society, the new channels of communication brought by computer-mediated technological innovations today have to a large extent transformed the way the public gain information, discuss common issues and hence the way public opinion is formed. Among these new channels, social media have attracted numerous scholars to examine their impacts on the democratisation of society. While the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube become increasingly prevalent in most part of the world, Mainland China is a typical exception where the access to western social media is blocked since 2009 (Sullivan, 2012). Instead, media corporations in China developed their own social media, which claim to follow the rule of the Chinese information regulation. Launched in 2009, Sina Weibo has become the most popular micro-blogging site in Mainland China, with its number of users exceeding 500 million by the end of 2012 (ChinaDaily, 2013). It has been increasingly utilised by the Chinese netizens as a tool to spread information and discuss social issues. 1.2. Research Questions and Hypothesis This dissertation attempts to explore what influences Sina Weibo has brought to the formation of public opinion in Mainland China. It aims to test the hypothesis that although Sina Weibo functions in restrictive economic and political background in Mainland China, freedom of choosing the style of... ... middle of paper ... ...ere and Beyond. In Chadwick, A. and Howard, P. (Eds.) Handbook of Internet Politics (pp. 230-145). London: Routledge. Qiang, X. (2011). The Rise of Online Public Opinion and Its Political Impact. In Shirk, S. L. (Ed.) Changing Media, Changing China. (pp. 202-224). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schroder, K. C. (2002). Mediated Fiction. In Jensen, K. B. (Ed.) A Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies (pp. 98-116). London and New York: Routledge. Sullivan, J. (2012). A Tale of Two Microblogs in China. In Media, Culture & Society. 34 (6), 773-783. DOI: 10.1177/0163443712448951. Sullivan, J. (2013). China’s Weibo: Is Faster Different?. In Media, Culture & Society. 16 (1), 24-37. DOI: 10.1177/1461444812472966. Yu, L., Asur, S. & Huberman, B. A. (2011). What Trends in Chinese Social Media. DOI:10.2139/ssrn.1888779.
York, Geoffrey. 2007. “Text-messages: the new Chinese protest tool.” Globe and Mail, Friday, June 1: A13.
However, books and newspapers are not our sole source of the written word. Online blogs, articles, and newsletters now exist. Television and books have merged into one: the Internet. Revolutions, riots, and rebellions don’t just happen in our living rooms now, they happen on the go with us. On the subway, when we’re waiting in line at Subway, at our friend’s house as he talks about how he’s “way into subs.”
Everyday people in China are suffering from their government. From being wrongly accused to being executed for petty crimes. In a country where you cannot speak your opinions, talk poorly about government officials, speak about Chinese communist failures, or even browse the internet freely. China has kept its citizens in the void. One example is the great firewall of china, which sensors most social media and other sites. This essay will go into some individual stories of the Chinese government's unfair social injustices towards its people.
In the current time, it seems like one cannot go a day without using at least one social media website. This might be especially true among groups of teenagers and young adults. Social media became a vital part of daily life that feeds people with several types of information constantly. Political news is a type of information that can reach the people through the means of social media. Since presidents are constantly seeking new strategies to increase their communication with the public in order to spread their political message, they utilize the different social media websites. Hence, social media became a platform to spread political message. It is not surprising that now the majority of political officials and candidates have social media accounts more than ever before, such as a Twitter account.
This is because the effects of the medium on a personal and social scale as the extension of us can result from a new scale that is introduced into our lives by the extension of ourselves and by any kind of new technology (McLuhan, 1964, p. 7). In this case, the medium could be twitter. Created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, twitter has proven to be the largest source of breaking news and social networking site. Since its beginnings, twitter is the medium
He plays with the words “likes” and “comments” because they refer both to reality and social media. This play on words enables the reader to realize people’s absurd addiction to online attention. Chu also ridicules the people’s goal in posting their political beliefs online. Chu sarcastically instructs that people should “impose [their] beliefs on everyone [they] know. This creates a more united America” (Chu 1). Through verbal irony, Chu demonstrates that political posts do not convince others to convert their views. He offers a scenario where America is more “united” because of shared political beliefs. This scene parallels a communist government, empowering the reader to see the ridiculous logic of these types of posts. The ridiculousness of the people’s desire for attention and imposition is so comical that the reader realizes the absurdity and is inspired to effect change in their own behavior. Had Chu been overcritical, the reader may have been irritated with the jabs at his or her behaviorisms and therefore may not have instituted
[18] Websites and applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, social curation and wikis are among the different types of social media. Social media is interactive in nature. In last ten to fifteen years, the growing number of social media has made its impact felt to all over the world. Issues of corruption, social injustice, human rights, political dissatisfaction, economic issues, inequality, partiality, biases etc. are global issues being raised and discussed on social media. Arab revolution is latest and big win of social media impact. Protests in Iraq, Syria, Asia, America, China, Romania and so on are examples of online activism on social media. The Arab Spring demonstrates the use of social media to effectively inform the public in the country or outside the country and to organize in times when most of the media are under control or censorship (Allagui & Kuebler,2011). [19] Research on the use of ICT for activism and protests online on social media situates itself at the intersection between social context, political purpose and technological possibility (Gillian et al., 2008). [20] Social movement and activism is a social process in which mass or masses display their interests, say loudly their grievances and criticism and ask for solution or suggest. Then
Safranek, Rita. 2012. The Emerging Role of Social Media in Political and Regime Change. s.l. : Proquest, 2012.
The purpose of this essay is to develop a further understanding of the impacts of social media in regards to the political debate. By looking at the topic of social media and the use rhetoric in response to politics in the 21st century, a deeper understanding of the issue can be established. Social media has become a primary source for the discussion of politics by the average citizen; whether through the sharing of articles, “memes”, advertisements or personal expository statements. As a result, large sums of information and ideas are spread rapidly to a wide variety of subjects. However, much of this information may not be accurate and could be misinterpreted. Consequently potentially misinformed citizens may not be able to make a properly
Social media can impact a life of an individual at many levels. On social media, each individual has the power to be influential and important. There is a freedom of expression on soci...
...: Social Media Impact." Asia Despatch RSS. N.p., 13 May 2013. Web. 11 May 2014.
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While the liberty of speech on Internet strengthens the democratization, it also provides political dissidents with channels and arranges to undermine. McLaughlin (2007) reveals that in Middle East, the Internet offers non-state dissident actors a potentially potent tool to accomplish their political objectives. Consequently, without the nation-imposed constraint... ... middle of paper ... ... ool, the public even the nation might suffer inestimable disasters.
Social media has become a major epidemic in today’s society. According to millions of people have signed up on social media websites, allowing their basic information to be shared with the world wide web. Two of the biggest social media websites today are Facebook and Twitter. The new generation tends to use Twitter over Facebook, the older generation prefer Facebook over Twitter. Though Facebook and Twitter serve the same purpose and have many similarities, they both differ in many ways.
The report focuses on the attitudes of society regarding social media, and the impacts that social media may bring about as a consequence of the attitudes, in respect to individuals, commerce, and government management.