Page 202 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

function is reposting. This means that any registered user can forward the information

they receive. With the ‘follow’ and ‘listen in’ functions, it is visible to all followers of
one single user when the information is reposted. Information distribution in Weibo is
like a huge network with nodes spreading everywhere; users subscribe to whatever they
are interested in posting and reposting information, and then subscribers are followed
by others. The process goes on over and over again setting up a special network struc-

ture for Weibo to disseminate information.
Weibo operates on a ‘self-guarding’ mechanism, meaning that the disseminators
themselves decide whether to spread the information or not. With the characteristic of

spontaneity, waves of public opinion can be formed within a short period of time and it
generates a large-scale sensation effect. Unlike discussions on news portals, in which a
moderator usually performs censorship of the comments, Weibo users have more power
over what they want to express and to spread. For cases that appeal for help and justice,
such as the Yihuang incident, victims or an information source can attract thousands

of comments within a few hours. This shows that Weibo enhances the expression and
dissemination of public opinion and illustrates a distinct feature of Weibo – all around
communication mode. Through posting and reposting, it creates a constant range of

one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many user interactions. One positive conse-
quence is that the space and speed for netizens to discuss current affairs has been great-
ly enhanced (Gao, 2012).
An ambivalent situation is shown in the recent reactions of the Chinese govern-
ment to online communication. The central government has paid more attention to data

mining in Chinese social media to probe the attitudes and opinions of Chinese citizens
so that they can take actions to stabilise the one-party control (Denyer, 2013). It implies
that, in the eyes of Chinese political leaders, online media is perceived as a powerful

tool. However, the central Party has issued a memo addressing the dangers of foreign
ideas which can be threatening to their leadership and alerted the party cadres across
the country (Buckley, 2013).
Since China is a centralism country, public participation usually abides by the
top-down approach. The central Party informs or orders government department at all

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