Page 260 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

formation society. Safeguarding rights on Weibo means to disclose information and

influence public opinion, which is based on citizens’ expression rights and the right to
information.
Weibo has been successful in pushing citizens to defend their own rights for a
number of reasons. Firstly, as seen in the Yihuang case, the nature of the forced demo-
lition is a special social problem in contemporary China, which strongly influences the

progress of urbanization. Compared with so-called politically sensitive issues, more
people are likely to be affected by incidents like house demolitions. Secondly, the pow-
er of safeguarding rights on Weibo comes from the special characteristics and advan-

tages 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 transmit-
ting 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. Finally, Weibo, as the new tech-

nology representative of ‘We Media’, provides the opportunity for breaking through the
unreasonable information block.
However, in some cases, the internet has become a channel for people to vent re-

sistance and hatred towards the officials and the wealthy group, which can lead to irra-
tional civic engagement.

8.2.2.2 Forms

Primary level: Like the primary level of motivation, the primary form of public

participation refers the simple act of reading or browsing related website and informa-
tion. Although no practical action is taken at this level, these behaviours could increase
the click-through rate, thereby technically enhancing the dissemination of the social
event. For example, when the click-through rate of a microblog reaches a certain level,

this microblog would be promoted to the hotspot position of the website’s homepage.
Intermediate level: This refers to actions towards online information about so-
cial events, including ‘thumbs up’, forwarding and commenting. The function of the
intermediate level is to express support, opposition or neutrality. People’s views and

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