Bringing a network perspective to Chinese internet studies: an exploratory analysis

Chen, Yu-Wen

Bringing a network perspective to Chinese internet studies: an exploratory analysis

Files

YWC_BringingAV2013.pdf(246.55 KB)

Accepted Version

Date

2013-12

Authors

Chen, Yu-Wen

Publisher

Springer

Published Version

10.1007/s11366-013-9260-4

Abstract

This paper adopts a network perspective to explore the ways digitally-mediated relationships prompt social and/or political participation in China. In the "chicken game scenario", my analysis suggests that collective actions are facilitated by both weak and strong ties, which generate a fairly unified collective identity that is conductive to high-risk mobilization. In the "public crisis scenario", it is generally weak ties that facilitate relatively lower-risk mobilization. In the "compromise scenario", if collective actions do occur, they are generally low-risk and non-political. This appears to be largely due to the dominance of weak ties in the compromise scenario. The "banal scenario" is a black box that has yet to be sufficiently investigated in the future.

Keywords

Chinese internet studies , Digitally-mediated relationships , Weak ties , Strong ties , Political participation

Citation

CHEN, Y.-W. 2013. Bringing a network perspective to Chinese internet studies: an exploratory analysis. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 18, 355-374.