Self-presentation and gender of chinese overseas students on social media : a case study of Sina Weibo

Chinese micro-blogging sites have been developing dramatically in the past 5 years. Therefore, China is an interesting context in which to study Chinese young adults’ self-presentation and gender identity on the most popular social media, Sina Weibo. This is a master thesis about self-presentation and gender on Sina Weibo. Six Chinese overseas students and their Weibo accounts were under investigation in this research and four participants were also interviewed. Three of the participants are female users and the rest are male users, including two homosexual participants. The data was collected in November-December 2013 which consists of 6 Weibo accounts and 4 interviews. Content analysis was applied as the main methods in this research. An affordance perspective of social media was utilized as theoretical framework and three affordances were focused on in particular: visibility, interactivity and individuality. The results from the analysis of three affordances of Weibo reveal that Sina Weibo serves as an open and dynamic platform for Chinese youngsters by encouraging social connection and enabling them to multimedia self-expression. However, social connection on Weibo was found not tight between participants and their audiences. The gender differences in use patterns and preferences were also found on Weibo. However, there is a big gap of social media skill among users, only quite a few users can drive this vehicle well and become opinion leaders. Additionally, Weibo serves as an open virtual community for non-heterosexual group, but it cannot replace the reality from where non-heterosexual group still suffer

Hong Kong protests: A quantitative and bottom-up account of resistance against Chinese social media (sina weibo) censorship

Chinese online censorship, though has been deeply explored by many scholars from a top-down perspective and has mostly concentrated on the macro level, it appears that there are few, if any, existing studies that features a bottom-up perspective and explores the micro-level aspects of online media censorship. To fill this research gap, this article uses the Occupy movement in Hong Kong as a research case to analyze social media users’ resistance under conditions of heavy censorship from a bottom-up perspective. That is, the research questions seek to uncover what novel ways Weibo users use to try and circumvent Weibo censorship. It is confirmed that the microbloggers tend to use embedded pictures and user ID names, instead of using text messages to camouflage the sensitive information to share with other users; that Weibo users tend to create new accounts once their original ones have been closed or monitored

Mistress or Hero? Corruption Reports on Sina Weibo and the Construction of Chinese Femininity

This qualitative textual analysis study focuses on two Chinese women who were previously sexually involved with the corrupted officers and later reported these officers to authorities. As a Chinese version of Twitter, Sina Weibo is a powerful social networking and communication tool for their reports. The study analyzes the posts and comments available on Sina Weibo about the identity of these women and how hegemonic Chinese femininity is performed, maintained, and challenged. These discussions may reflect the potential cultural, ideological, and socioeconomic factors that can influence the construction of contemporary Chinese femininity, providing the picture of how social media and mainstream journalists may influence the construction of the femininity and female empowerment. The results of the study suggest that the journalists and the mainstream public tend to marginalize and blame the woman in the sex-video case more than the woman in self-report case. In these discourses, the woman is given more agency in the self-report case partially because of her high socioeconomic status. The influence of traditional Chinese culture as well as the Western sex objectification of women is still obvious. The hegemonic femininity has been maintained by the mainstream groups on Weibo; however, social media do provide opportunities for the women to inspire social engagement and speak up for individual construction of diverse femininity, challenging social hegemony and empowering the women being studied

How does the Chinese government use social media to react to social crisis: a content analysis

Professional project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Journalism from the School of Journalism, University of Missouri--Columbia.In order to examine the Chinese government's strategies and stances reflected on its social media account during a social crisis, this research uses a content analysis of 391 Weibo posts from four official government accounts. The researcher uses one-way ANOVA, Chi-square and independent-sample t test to compare the strategies and stance reflected in different phrases and between two types of government accounts. The results reveal that the Chinese government tended to adopt an accommodative stance towards social crisis. Among four government accounts, the posts from government-controlled media accounts showed a less accommodative stance. Moreover, posts from government-controlled media accounts are more likely to try explaining the cause of crisis, while the posts government-agency accounts are making promises for the future like establishing policies to secure a better environment and clean the air. Finally discussion focuses on the speculations that might lead to the results.Includes bibliographic references

Individual rights and government control: A qualitative study of China\u27s censorship

China\u27s Internet has been the subject of much public debate as to whether it has contributed to political change and the progress of individual rights in China. It is hard to ignore the extent to which government control is widely applied online in a variety of ways while discussing the Internet in China. Censorship has had a tremendous impact on China\u27s Internet and has also become an unavoidable topic in public discourse regarding the development of the Internet in China, because it has turned into an inseparable part of China\u27s Internet. This study aims to explore the online experience of Chinese individuals with censorship in China. A case study of the Wukan Protests was used to reveal the practical application of censorship on China\u27s Internet in terms of political news reporting. Additionally, 12 interviews were conducted to try and determine Chinese individuals\u27 awareness and perspectives about how censorship works in their daily lives. The findings of this study indicate that the open and effective censorship in China impacts participants\u27 attitudes toward media when it comes to news reporting. The findings showed that interviewees tend to critically and selectively view political news both online and offline. It was also found that Chinese Internet users who have experienced the effects of the Great Firewall may develop high levels of self-efficacy in determining media credibility with respect to political news reporting

The Voice of a New China: Democratic Behaviors in Chinese Reality Shows Super Girl and Happy Girls

China’s media have long served the Communist Party’s political purposes, and China’s television has always been under government censorship. One of China’s first reality shows, Super Girl, showed too much of the “democratic” idea according to the Communist Party, which then banned it in 2006. Nevertheless, the show, in effect, introduced the participatory audience, and Chinese audiences became consumers who not only actively sought new information but also actively participated in a given show. Now, because of today’s new media technologies and their convergence, the relationship between producers and consumers has been both reshaped and consolidated, empowering the rights of the participatory audience and spurring democratic ideas in Chinese society. The Chinese consumers nowadays are thus able to participate in both creating the media text and at the same time collectively making their own meaning in that text. Because of such an empowered audience, China’s reality shows have become a powerful platform and conduit that allow the voice of the Chinese people to be heard. Therefore, in this paper, I will examine four aspects of the Chinese reality shows in an era of “media convergence”: first, the new relationship between China’s government and media producers; second, the intense cooperation between Chinese new media producers and consumers; third, the public voice created by new Chinese audiences on new media platforms on the Internet; and fourth, the limitations and possibilities of democratic participation in Chinese reality shows

Interaction Between Traditional Media and Social Media Coverage on Social Issues in China: A Content Analysis

Professional project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Journalism from the School of Journalism, University of Missouri--Columbia.To what extent does online public opinion and traditional media coverage interact with each other on social issues in China? This research employs a content analysis of 524 Weibo posts and 327 news articles regarding a social incident in China. The researcher uses Chi-square tests to compare the use of alternative media and the frame selection of social media and traditional media in different phases. Social media and traditional media react differently when covering social issues. Social media have a better interaction with traditional media while traditional media make less reference to social media. Additionally, social media and traditional media play different social roles when covering public affairs by selecting different frames. Even if the traditional media are partially free and under the government control, social media can hardly substitute the role of social responsibility of traditional media in defining the problem and issue treatment. Noticeably, the choices of frame in both social media and traditional media are not influenced by their interactions, but instead by different time frames. Discussion focuses on the changes in the roles played by media, government, and Chinese citizens.Includes bibliographic references

The Role of Country of Origin in Brand Following on Social Media Among U.S. Consumers

An understanding of how consumers interact with brands online is still in its infancy. This study will attempt to explain what motivates consumers to follow brands on social media, looking specifically at the role country and region of origin of products plays in explaining the relationship. Given the personal nature that attracts people to social media to build relationships, it is believed that the personal nature of brands originating from the social media users’ home country will heighten the likelihood that consumers track certain brands and may enhance the relationship that evolves between the brand and the consumer. A model is proposed to explain the relationship, with survey data from U.S. consumers used to begin to establish any links between product origins and brand tracking behavior through social media