Expressive behaviors across discursive spaces and issue types

Impact of Information Society Research in the Global South

“…Yet, consistent with previous studies (Chan, and Zhou 2011;Pan et al 2010), no direct influence of the Internet use on offline expression is found in this study. This illustrates that more Internet news browsing and more active Internet interaction encourage stronger intention to express their appeals via new media.…”

“…Empirically, in a metaanalysis of 38 studies with 166 effect estimates, Boulianne (2009) reports that online news use had significant positive effects on citizenship engagement. Chan and Zhou (2011) show Internet news use had significantly positive influence on opinion expression in the new media space, though it had no significant effect on offline expression. For example, Lei (2011) showed using the 2007 World Value Survey Data that compared with exclusive traditional media users and non-media users, Chinese netizens were more likely to be opinionated, more likely to be "politicised"-that is, simultaneously embracing the norms of democracy and being critical of the current political conditions and the party-state-and more likely to have experiences in collective action.…”

“…Although the expression of opinion is conceived as the most basic form of political participation, prior empirical studies have showed that, in general, ordinary Chinese people are not active in expressing their opinions, especially in the public space, mostly due to the strict political control and low political efficacy (Pan et al 2010;Chan and Zhou 2011). While scholars also argue that when people encounter realistic needs to resolve existential problems such as pollution in their living environment, their intention to engage in expressive behaviours would be higher (Yang 2009;Zhou 2011).…”

“…In the context of transformational Chinese society, scholars have conceptualised three distinct spaces of expression based on activity contexts, corresponding venues, and felt inhibitory forces: face-to-face interpersonal private space, institutional space, and hybrid new media space, referring to the Internet and mobile phones (Pan et al 2010;Chan and Zhou 2011). In the context of transformational Chinese society, scholars have conceptualised three distinct spaces of expression based on activity contexts, corresponding venues, and felt inhibitory forces: face-to-face interpersonal private space, institutional space, and hybrid new media space, referring to the Internet and mobile phones (Pan et al 2010;Chan and Zhou 2011).…”

“…Ironically, although theoretically it is more efficient to express opinions to official institutions for help, people seldom do so (Chan and Zhou 2011). Besides the more strict restriction and higher engagement cost, another important explanation is the lack of effective responses from the institutions.…”