Page 240 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

ture and never cross the bottom lines of the Communist Party or Central Government.

In terms of the government’s bottom line in online public participation, result
of the interviews is summarised as: firstly, illegal information relates to pornography,
gamble and drugs; secondly. information that contains sensitive words or topics; finally,
extreme opinions that question the legitimacy of the CCP and its governing capacity.
Secondly, the power of safeguarding rights on Weibo comes from the special char-

acteristics and advantages of the microblogging platform in the new media age. Weibo,
as almost the highest developed form of internet communication so far, shows a great
strength in transmitting information. Compared with the traditional media, BBS/forums

and blogs, Weibo depends on its mesh transmission, real-time searches, ease of use and
other powerful functions, which make the former platforms obsolete. Anyone can post a
Weibo message anywhere, as long as they own a mobile phone that is connected to the
internet. The convenience of mobile terminals plus the real-time search makes Weibo
live become a very simple thing. Fans could reach the micro bloggers’ post at the first

circle, then they forward the second-hand information which will be seen by their own
fans. Although each microblogging account has different influential levels because of
the number of fans, once the attention of numerous microblogging users is attracted, es-

pecially the well-known micro blogger or the public intellectuals, the information will
be spread out at a staggering speed. The Yihuang case shows the advantages of Weibo,
which include its focus function, real-time tracking, and promoting effect. The victim
of the Yihuang incident opened a Weibo account and released the latest relevant infor-
mation for the first time, and this can be treated as the headstream of information sourc-

es. Then, the opinion leaders guide the online discussion, which directly changes the
focus of the internet users. Subsequently, a large number of internet users forwarded the
posts and made the comments of relevant information, which formed a strong opinion

field. It is almost impossible for victims to use newspapers, TV or even the traditional
blog to achieve this remarkable effect. Weibo operators also intentionally promoted and
allowed the issue to ferment so as to attract more users and increase their activity (Wang,
2012). Generally, the more users that participated in denouncing Yihuang officials, the
more powerful public opinion and pressure became; the Zhong family’s persistence and

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