Proceedings of the 2017 3rd International Conference on Economics, Social Science, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (ESSAEME 2017)

Social Media in Contemporary China: A Transformative Public Sphere?

Authors
Bei Guo
Corresponding Author
Bei Guo
Available Online July 2017.
DOI
10.2991/essaeme-17.2017.344How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Weibo, public sphere, public space
Abstract

Weibo is a Chinese invented social media platform integrating key features of Facebook and Twitter, which make it a seemingly freer channel for individual to individual communication, so bypassing the gaze of authority. It has been extolled by its supporters as offering a vital public sphere, as a space for the free exchange of public opinion. However, as a medium, it faces a number of significant limitations, which undermine its ability to offer a true "public sphere". First there is a clear imbalance in the demographics of Weibo users that prevents it from being truly representative of the Chinese people. Second, it is understood by scholars that a "public sphere" offers a forum for exchange of citizen's views on issues of the day based on a level of rationality. By comparison, Weibo is dominated by trivia, personal expos, and gossip. Finally and most importantly, Weibo does not evade the gaze of authority, which has simply adapted in order to monitor any postings on the site. Weibo may give the illusion of being a free speech platform that transforms China's public sphere, when in fact it is simply another public space for social communication within the permissible discourses of the state.

Copyright
© 2017, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Download article (PDF)

Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2017 3rd International Conference on Economics, Social Science, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (ESSAEME 2017)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
July 2017
ISBN
978-94-6252-367-8
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/essaeme-17.2017.344How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2017, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Bei Guo
PY  - 2017/07
DA  - 2017/07
TI  - Social Media in Contemporary China: A Transformative Public Sphere?
BT  - Proceedings of the 2017 3rd International Conference on Economics, Social Science, Arts, Education and Management Engineering (ESSAEME 2017)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/essaeme-17.2017.344
DO  - 10.2991/essaeme-17.2017.344
ID  - Guo2017/07
ER  -