Microblogging and Social Change in China

Abstract

In this article we examine the role of microblogging in the ongoing process of social change in China, focusing on its impacts on the formation of civil society and the public sphere. We identify several important features of Chinese microblogging, including an anti­authoritarian stance, opinion leaders, and organized campaigns. Theoretically, these features reflect two major social processes that are simultaneously taking place in China today: modernization and globalization. Through microblogging, these processes influence each other to achieve three possible consequences of social change: fragmentation, development of civil society and the public sphere, and networked violence. Our analysis indicates the failure of civil society and the public sphere to develop as well as the rise of networked violence.

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