Page 64 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Feasibility Study of New Media Technology
on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Zhang and Stening (2010) supported Xiao’s view and indicated that, although

China is still under single-party rule and the government strictly controls internet use,
the digital revolution has toppled the wall that used to stop citizens from exchanging
views with one another and interacting with the rest of the world. Just as Xiao (2011)
argued that online public opinion shows the growing influence on Chinese society, the
government no longer has absolute control over information dissemination and public

participation.

2.6 Summary

This chapter has proposed the ‘government-media-public’ triangular analytical

framework in my research by reviewing the historical situation of the public sphere in
both China’s physical world and cyberspace, and the possibility of its existence in con-
temporary China. It has conceptualised the Chinese internet as a ‘quasi-public sphere’.
Information regime theory was discussed in the context of Chinese society. It is

used throughout my book as a theoretical framework to analyse the relationship be-
tween government and media companies in the current situation in China.
By considering the roles, functions and characteristics of the public, new media
and the government, this chapter has explored how the three elements contribute to

the ‘online public sphere’ in China. It also discussed internet empowerment from the
perspective of the commercial media market, indicating the possibility of public partic-
ipation in the online public sphere. Moreover, an important concept – We Media – was
introduced, as it is the outcome of technological empowerment which is essential in the

development of public events, as demonstrated in the case studies in later chapters.
This chapter then elaborated on the characteristics, elements and possibilities of
public participation in China’s physical world and ICT-mediated participation, address-
ing the first research question: how far has social media contributed to public partici-

pation in China? It analysed the advantages brought by the diversity of internet inno-
vations, which relates to another research question concerning the dynamics and forms
of public participation in China’s cyberspace. The controversial effects of online public
participation were also discussed.

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