Page 268 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

than in the old days’ (MacKinnon, 2012, p. xxii). The domestic ‘RuNet’ has its own

popular blogs, search engines and social media which remain largely isolated from the
world cyberspace. While, as indicated in my book, the Chinese-specific online resourc-
es that operate largely within the country and rarely interact with the global web is
similar to that of Russia. Other countries such as Iran and Kazakhstan are building their
own national cyber sphere as a substitute for western alternatives, as well. Hence, this

book not only contributes to a more thorough understanding of the internet environ-
ment in China, it is also useful for other researchers who wish to compare the control of
web content and the management of internet media across the world. More importantly,

due to the special characteristics of the media industry in China, this book enriched the
collection of media researches and helps complete the larger picture of Media studies in
centralism countries.

8.3.2 Limitations

Despite the findings of this research, I am aware of its limitations. First of all, the
scope of this research is limited within the period between the BBS and the Weibo age.

The events of the three case studies took place from 2003 to 2010. It did not cover the
latest development of new media platforms in China, such as WeChat, which is an ex-
tremely popular social networking application. The number of monthly active users of
WeChat has reached 1.26 billion during 2021 (Tencent, 2022), and it represents the new

‘upgraded’ channel of communication. The reason why WeChat was not investigated
was partly due to the constraints of the research plan. But a more important reason was
that the main function of WeChat was assumed merely as an instant messaging service.
People tend to use WeChat for acquaintance connection which is formed mainly by

friends and family members, and it may not generate mass public participation and on-
line debates. However, other academics may include WeChat when considering public
participation in Media studies or Chinese studies, and my assumption needs to be ex-
amined in future research.

Limitation can also be found from the empirical side. Data collected from the
questionnaire surveys and interviews were based on the respondents’ perceptions and

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