Digital Nationalism on Weibo on the 70th Chinese National Day

Abstract

China's digital nationalism has been on the rise during the last decade. This article examines the digital nationalistic expression of solidarity and unity on China's 70th National Day celebration in 2019. It conducted a qualitative content analysis of 500 posts regarding China's National Day, which were posted on October 1, 2019, on Sina Weibo. This study finds that Chinese internet users employ textual and visual posts to express their pride and loyalty, thereby reflecting their Chinese identity, a call for national unity, and their best wishes for China's bright future. This study suggests that Weibo offers a virtual "imagined community" for netizens to interact with national symbols to spontaneously strengthen a sense of national identity by highlighting the Chinese Communist Party's achievements. The findings concluded that national identity is socially constructed, rather than being permanent. Moreover, the Internet facilitates a more liberating Chinese media system; however, digital media is also somehow influenced by the Chinese government's media logic, which helps to further disseminate the government's interests.

Media and Pollution in China: Mouthpiece or Watchdog?

“…Additionally, the media content is influenced by the Chinese communis t ideology. However, due to the influence of the market, the news content is also partially influenced by the liberal ideology in order to serve the public and commercial interests and to offer a public sphere for interaction (Ma, Webber, and Finlayson 2009;Zhang 2020a).…”

“…The Chinese media's voice highly aligns with that of the government (Zhao 2008). However, previous research also suggests that since the development of technology, the Chinese media has had more freedom to make public the news on environmental problems (Tong 2014;Zhang, Mol, and He 2016;Zhang 2020a). The research question that arises is 'To what extent is the news content on pollution in China produced under the influence of social systems?'…”

The media and think tanks in China: The construction and propagation of a think tank

“…However, others are more skeptical, either because they believe that low-cost activities on social media will act as a replacement for real-world action ("slacktivism") or because they believe that authoritarian governments are becoming better at utilizing the same tools to suppress dissent (Morozov, 2012). Zhang (2020a) further posits that although viewed as liberal in the Chinese media environment, social media also follows the media logic that is dominated by the Chinese government. Overall, although the previous studies debate the role of social media in China, it widely accepts that social media in China could play a role as a public sphere to reach the public (Fang & Repnikova, 2018;Zhang, 2020b).…”

“…However, this article argues that it is insufficient to say that social media could help the think tanks break the boundary of Chinese Confucian culture and the "bureaucracy-oriented tradition." Zhang (2020a) proffers that although viewed as liberal in the Chinese media environment, social media still follows the traditional media logic that facilitates the government's interests. This study found the same pattern that although think tanks use social media to write articles and choose topics of discussion, they still need to follow the rule of Chinese Confucian culture and the "bureaucracyoriented tradition" promoted by the prevailing Chinese political power.…”

“…Meanwhile, the media in China also has a tremendous influence on public opinion and Chinese politics, although it is strictly controlled by the Chinese government (Brady, 2008). Moreover, social media can supply platforms for people to use to offer political information and a broad range of discussion forums (Zhang, 2020a). Think tanks, as independent non-profit organizations, have their own communication channels (websites, blogs, conferences, publications, etc.).…”