As the first volume of a two-volume set on new media users in China, this book approaches the subject from a macro level by regarding users as constructive nodes within networks, thereby giving insights into the interaction between users and new media and among individuals within the ambit of new media. The author revisits the roles of the typical new media user that has changed from that of a passive "audience member" to a basic unit of the network itself, acting as both a node in the communication network, social network, and service network and also a link between the three. In viewing users as nodes functioning in communication networks and social networks, this volume unravels the new landscapes of communication of the new media era and the consequent profound changes in social relationships, interpersonal connection modes and different methods of interaction. In terms of their role in service networks resting upon the network economy, new media users not only are consumers with personalized needs, but also serve as service guides, resource contributors, and even major productive forces. This title will be a must-read for scholars, students and media professionals interested in the topics of internet communication, new media usage, and media and society as a whole.

As the second volume of a two-volume set on new media users in China, this book approaches the subject from a micro level. examining the mediatized existence and life of new media users in the digital age and the approaching age of artificial intelligence. To further explore the interaction between people and new media, this volume focuses on the idea of the "mediatized survival" of new media users. By analyzing user behaviour and practice in mediatized time and space, including selfies, photo retouching, memes, online videos, social media posts, video conferences, and WeChat red packets, the author elucidates the mediatized self-expression embodied in these key phenomena and shows how reality and virtual life converge and interact. The final two chapters discuss drivers of new forms of mediatization surrounding data and cyborgs, exploring the impact of algorithms on people and the outlook for human-machine relationships. This title will be a must-read for scholars, students and media professionals interested in the topics of internet communication, new media usage and media and society as a whole.

As with many spheres of public life, public diplomatic communication is being transformed by the boom of social media. More than 165 foreign governmental organisations in China have embarked on the use of Weibo (a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter in China) to engage with Chinese citizens and reach out to youth populations, one of the major goals of current public diplomacy efforts. This exciting new pivot, based on systemic research of Weibo usage by embassies in China, explores the challenges and the limits that the use of Chinese Weibo (and Chinese social media in general) poses for foreign embassies, and considers ways to use these or other tools. It offers a systematic study of the effectiveness and challenges of using Weibo for public diplomatic communication in and with China. Addressing the challenges of e-diplomacy, it considers notably the occurrence of cyber-nationalism on Weibo and encourages a critical look at its practice, arguing how it can contribute to the goals of public diplomacy.

China in the Era of Social Media discusses how social media is changing the world in an unprecedented way through speed, scope, and depth. In the last decade or so, social media in China has witnessed the most explosive growth in the world. Being the most populous nation in the world, it has the most social media users in the world as well. This book examines the current situation and unique characteristics of Chinese social media, the significance of social media in the country’s social transformation, and particularly its influences on political change in the nation. The main goal of this book is to explore how social media has been affecting and thus changing China’s political system, the ruling communist ideology, and the state-run media, as well as its public discourse and public opinions. Scholars of Asian studies, political science, and communications will find this book particularly interesting.

This book explores the media and conflict relationship in the age of social media through the lens of China. Inspired by the concepts of medialization of conflict and actor-network theory, this book centers on four main actors in wars and conflicts: social media platform, mainstream news organizations, online users and social media content. These four human and non-human actors associate, interact and negotiate with each other in the social media network. The central argument is that social media is playing an enabling role in contemporary wars and conflicts. Both professional media outlets and web users employ the functionalities of social media platforms to set, counter-set or expand the online public agenda. Social media platform embodies a web of technological and human complexities with different actors, factors, interests, and power relations. These four actors and the macro social-political context are influential in the medialization of conflict in the social media era. ‘’Empirically rich and theoretically innovative, this book advances our understanding of the constantly changing dynamic between international conflict and its medialization. With its compelling case studies, Shixin Zhang’s monograph makes a valuable contribution to the literature on Chinese social media in conflict situations.’’ - Daya K. Thussu, Professor of International Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

In this book, specialists and scholars present a comprehensive account of the latest developments in Chinese new media. The articles explore important areas such as security of cyberspace in China; the development of WeChat and micro-blogs; public opinions of social media and the transformation of traditional media. It also summarizes the development of the new-media industry, including digital TV, mobile games, the online video industry, IPTV, new-media advertising and mobile news applications. It is a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working in media.

This book focuses on the influence of social media on Chinese society. The respective chapters present research by top-tier communication scholars from prominent Chinese universities and offer revealing findings on the interplay between media / social media, economics and politics. To that end, both qualitative and quantitative methods based on classical theories of communication and economics are drawn upon. The book explores four main areas: the challenges and opportunities for Chinese journalism and communications, changes in Chinese economic development, influences and forecasts for Chinese politics, and the impacts on Chinese culture. As the chapter contributors hail from diverse regions within China and represent three generations of communication scholars, the book offers a comprehensive guide, helping readers understand the impact of social media on China’s development from a broad range of perspectives, and sharing insights on its impacts around the world.

Popular protests are on the rise in China. However, since protesters rely on existing channels of participation and on patronage by elite backers, the state has been able to stymie attempts to generalize resistance and no large scale political movements have significantly challenged party rule. Yet the Chinese state is not monolithic. Decentralization has increased the power of local authorities, creating space for policy innovations and opening up the political opportunity structure. Popular protest in China - particularly in urban realm- not only benefits from the political fragmentation of the state, but also from the political communications revolution. The question of how and to what extent the internet can be used for mobilizing popular resistance in China is hotly debated. The government, virtual social organizations, and individual netizens both cooperate and compete with each other on the web. New media both increases the scope of the mobilizers and the mobilized (thereby creating new social capital), and provides the government with new means of social control (thereby limiting the political impact of the growing social capital). This volume is the first of its kind to assess the ways new media influence the mobilization of popular resistance and its possible effects in China today.

Redefining the concept of new media in China, this cutting edge book discusses the impact of social media on Chinese public life. Examining its characteristics and the different forms of social media, such as internet and mobile phone media, weibo, wechat and micro-blogging, it considers how public opinion evolves through this media and its interaction with traditional media. It also offers a unique analysis of growing new media platforms, the challenges of government management and the impact of micro-blogging on journalism in China. Through quantitative research, the book also analyses new media user behavior in China, offering a ‘butterfly effect’ model for public opinion based on new media. It also shows the relevance of the sociological Matthew Effect and addresses issues such as the ‘20 million’ phenomenon and the Internet Water army (Wangluo shuijun), groups of Internet ghost-writers paid to post specific content online. Finally, it scrutinizes the the issue of mass disturbance in new media in China, researching evolutionary mechanisms and academic models of mass disturbance through a series of case studies. Written by a leader in the field of Chinese new media, this book constitutes a valuable read to scholars of media and communications studies, and all those interested by the development and the increasing impact of new media in China.

Social media such as instant messaging (IM), social networking sites (SNS), blogs and microblogs are an integral part of adolescents’ lives in China. Anecdotal evidence reported in the news has suggested that the increasing popularity of social media could make adolescents more vulnerable to being addicted. This exploratory study proposes the concept of “social media addiction” and examines (a) whether social media addiction exists among adolescents in urban China and, if so, who the addicts are, what their symptoms are and to what extent they are addicted; (b) whether sociopsychological traits (e.g., need for affiliation, impression management, narcissism and leisure boredom) can predict social media addiction among adolescents; (c) what gratifications are obtained by adolescents from their use of social media and whether these gratifications can predict social media addiction and (d) to what degree social media addiction influences adolescents’ academic performance and social capital. This study employed quantitative questionnaire surveys among adolescents as the main research method, supplemented by qualitative pre-survey focus groups among adolescents and post-survey in-depth interviews among parents and teachers. Questionnaire surveys were conducted based on a multi-stage cluster sampling of seven middle schools in five urban Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen. The final sample consisted of 1,549 adolescents, of whom 90% had used social media. Using Young’s classic definition of Internet addiction, 15.6% of participants were classified as social media addicts. The addicted adolescents were often self-absorbed, bored with their leisure time, and good at using manipulation through social media for impression management. Addicts experienced four major social media addiction symptoms: preoccupation, adverse consequences, alleviation of negative emotions and loss of interest in social activities. The seven social media gratifications identified in this study can be categorized into social, information and entertainment gratifications. Among these, entertainment gratifications had the most power to predict social media addiction, while information gratifications were the least likely to lead to addiction. Furthermore, these gratifications were found to be powerful mediators between the adolescents’ sociopsychological traits and social media addiction. Finally, the results also indicated that social media addiction and its symptoms had a significant negative impact on adolescents’ academic performance and social capital.