CHINA
22 March 2014
Social media in China
Yiran Liu, currently studying at Tokyo's Sophia University, has an interesting article to share with us on the social media in China.
Yiran Liu, currently studying at Tokyo's Sophia University, has an interesting article to share with us on the social media in China.
In this note, I will talk about the function of social media in China. Not Facebook, but China's own social media. Although Facebook is influential in the world, that is not the case in China because it is blocked by the authorities and only a small group of people use it.
Many years ago, when newspapers and the telegraph were the main tools of communications, news spead at a very slow speed. It would take a long time for people to learn about and be able to respond to the news. It was also hard for the government to hear people's voice.
The invention of the television and the Internet changed social media and our society in many ways. On TV and the Internet, people all over the world can find out and know what just happened in every corner of the world. News such as tornados and earthquakes can be on TV and Internet and be noticed in just a second by people everywhere.
Beyond that, both TV and the Internet have done a great job for helping social justice. When a certain issue is reported on TV or the Internet, it attracts people's attention and can be solved more quickly and efficiently. For example, if a poor student in China who cannot afford college tuition fees, appears on TV or the internet, he is much more likely to get help. Sick children and disabled people in China can also receive help in the same way.
There is however a huge difference between the TV and the Internet. TV is more useful for receiving information, while the Internet is also a platform for sharing ideas and opinions. In China, using Weibo (something similar to Twitter) can make a person famous in several days, when some comment really attracts people's attention. People's reactions can also have big effects.
Some time ago in China, a man was sentenced to death because he strangled a little baby. The baby's parents parked their car in front of their store and went inside to turn on a stove, leaving the infant sleeping on the back seat with the engine running. The parents said they didn't want to wake him from his slumbers.
The father left the store just minutes later only to find his car and his son missing. The parents soon realized that the car had been stolen, called the police and posted this news on Weibo. Millions of Chinese people learnt this news right away and were extremely worried about the little child's safety. Many people in that city volunteered to help in the search.
However, the body of the two month old child was found in a shallow grave near the highway. A man turned himself into the police, later admitting that he had strangled the baby to death. People were very angry and asked the court to sentence that man to death. Although that man turned himself in, he was still sentenced to death right away.
In the past, such events were rarely so influenced by public opinion. Criminals who surrendered themselves, might pay compensation to the victim's family, and the court might give a two-year reprieve.
Today in China, people can have a greater influence on social issues thanks to social media. At the same time, fast spreading news through social media may make criminals anxious, and provoke panicked responses like the strangulation. We may never know the truth of the matter.
In response to the huge impact of social media in China, the Chinese government has set up a special office just to figure out what are the hot topics online, and what issues netizens really care about. Special government officials respond and try to solve those problems.
It is clear that, with the arrival of social media, people's voices and opinions can get to the government much more easily and quickly. However, experience shows that sometimes in China, it might not be smart to say something different, just to be famous. You can easily get into trouble. Recently a guy had to spend three years in prison because he claimed that he came from an alien country!
With the arrival of social media in China, daily life is clearly no longer the same!
In this note, I will talk about the function of social media in China. Not Facebook, but China's own social media. Although Facebook is influential in the world, that is not the case in China because it is blocked by the authorities and only a small group of people use it.
Many years ago, when newspapers and the telegraph were the main tools of communications, news spead at a very slow speed. It would take a long time for people to learn about and be able to respond to the news. It was also hard for the government to hear people's voice.
The invention of the television and the Internet changed social media and our society in many ways. On TV and the Internet, people all over the world can find out and know what just happened in every corner of the world. News such as tornados and earthquakes can be on TV and Internet and be noticed in just a second by people everywhere.
Beyond that, both TV and the Internet have done a great job for helping social justice. When a certain issue is reported on TV or the Internet, it attracts people's attention and can be solved more quickly and efficiently. For example, if a poor student in China who cannot afford college tuition fees, appears on TV or the internet, he is much more likely to get help. Sick children and disabled people in China can also receive help in the same way.
There is however a huge difference between the TV and the Internet. TV is more useful for receiving information, while the Internet is also a platform for sharing ideas and opinions. In China, using Weibo (something similar to Twitter) can make a person famous in several days, when some comment really attracts people's attention. People's reactions can also have big effects.
Some time ago in China, a man was sentenced to death because he strangled a little baby. The baby's parents parked their car in front of their store and went inside to turn on a stove, leaving the infant sleeping on the back seat with the engine running. The parents said they didn't want to wake him from his slumbers.
The father left the store just minutes later only to find his car and his son missing. The parents soon realized that the car had been stolen, called the police and posted this news on Weibo. Millions of Chinese people learnt this news right away and were extremely worried about the little child's safety. Many people in that city volunteered to help in the search.
However, the body of the two month old child was found in a shallow grave near the highway. A man turned himself into the police, later admitting that he had strangled the baby to death. People were very angry and asked the court to sentence that man to death. Although that man turned himself in, he was still sentenced to death right away.
In the past, such events were rarely so influenced by public opinion. Criminals who surrendered themselves, might pay compensation to the victim's family, and the court might give a two-year reprieve.
Today in China, people can have a greater influence on social issues thanks to social media. At the same time, fast spreading news through social media may make criminals anxious, and provoke panicked responses like the strangulation. We may never know the truth of the matter.
In response to the huge impact of social media in China, the Chinese government has set up a special office just to figure out what are the hot topics online, and what issues netizens really care about. Special government officials respond and try to solve those problems.
It is clear that, with the arrival of social media, people's voices and opinions can get to the government much more easily and quickly. However, experience shows that sometimes in China, it might not be smart to say something different, just to be famous. You can easily get into trouble. Recently a guy had to spend three years in prison because he claimed that he came from an alien country!
With the arrival of social media in China, daily life is clearly no longer the same!