Page 75 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 3. Contextual Background

courages, explicitly or implicitly, human interactions and participation, through which

knowledge and content are generated, disseminated, shared and used over network
applications’ (Zhang, 2010, p.1). Through the exploitation of the network effects in a
social mode (human interaction), Web 2.0 is empowered with the strength of not only
linking Uniform Resource Locator (URL), but also linking people (ibid). Typical Web
2.0 applications are Bulletin Board Systems, Wikipedia, the blogosphere and social

networking services. By turning applications into platforms that enable user content
generation and interaction, it has become a system of converged and integrated new
media comprising the internet, mobile communications and various entertainment in-

dustries in which human interaction, information exchange and knowledge-sharing are
supported (ibid). Such a collective platform is also an important sphere in which public
opinions are formed and mobilised. It is the result of the convergence of computing,
communications and content (3C) networks (ibid). Compared with the Web 1.0 era, in
which search engines and mass portals are the key business model, Web 2.0 brought a

completely new experience for internet users. Instead of passively consuming what is
already on the site, Web 2.0 enables users to participate in the World Wide Web, to take
the lead in content creation and to have a say in what they consume (Zhang, 2010). As

Dan Gillmor (2004) indicated, internet users are changing their role from purely infor-
mation recipients to newsmakers, storytellers and information distributors on a con-
verged, open and interactive platform.
With all these technological developments and user experience evolution in the
era of Web 2.0, Chinese citizens are able to absorb diverse opinions from the public

rather than the mainstream information sources. This encourages the public to use the
opportunities provided by Web 2.0 to express their views and to negotiate with the gov-
ernment. Such enhanced forms of online public participation under the relatively tight

internet regulations in China show the possibilities of the interaction between the public
and government.
The concept of Web 2.0 is manifested through BBS and forums, blogs, SNS and
IM. In comparison with the World Wide Web about two decades ago, users play a more
active role in the internet. Extensive user participation leads to a more diverse world on

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