Page 266 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

influence on government-public relationship. Hence, this book offers a more thorough

and updated theoretical and analytical framework in Chinese studies.
Existing Chinese studies on the interaction between the public and the govern-
ment have mostly underestimated the role of the media and there has been a lack of in-
depth empirical analysis. Instead of the initial introductory and communicative aspects
of Chinese social media, this book highlighted its empowerment in public participation

with empirical data. It also broke the western stereotype of the intense government-pub-
lic relationship because of the censorship and information control in China. It reviewed
a dynamic and negotiable government-public relationship mediated by ICTs and found

that the relationship is not always a zero-sum game. The findings facilitated a better un-
derstanding of the modern Chinese society and its cyberspaces.
The book highlighted the diverse forms of public participation via the internet and
traced the history of online platforms, which could benefit further research in the realm
of Chinese internet studies. In addition, the contextual background in Chapter 3 illus-

trated the evolution of the internet industry and ICT development.
This book has concluded that the online public sphere has already formed and
developed to a high level in China’s cyberspace. By revealing how ICT products have

gradually become the main platform for debate, it has pointed out the major channels
that were used for public participation at different periods of Chinese society. It demon-
strated the switch of traditional media and new media in terms of content generation
and dissemination. For media service providers, the traditional media have already
found their value in the integration with new media platforms. Here the online public

sphere can be reinforced, while an offline quasi-public sphere can be achieved in the fu-
ture. For government departments, the new media platforms such as Weibo can be used
to improve governance and social management, and also provide clues in enhancing the

interaction with the public. Ultimately, a relationship with mutual trust will be estab-
lished between the public and the government, which further improves the strength and
the power of ICT-mediated public participation. For internet users, this research has al-
ready seen an increasing awareness of public participation, with a better understanding
of the online public sphere, and it will facilitate more effective use of ICT applications

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