Full Description
This book aims to identify the most important political, socio-economic, and technical determinants of Internet development in China, through a historical approach that combines political economy, cultural, and public studies. Firstly, the book looks at the most important strategies that compelled the Chinese government to invest in the construction of the Internet infrastructure. Secondly, it examines the relationships between the development of the Internet in China and the emergence of a nascent civil society. Finally, attention is given to three different Chinese online platforms in three different historical periods. This three-pronged approach presents a coherent set of analyses and case studies which are committed to the investigation of the complex process of change undergone by Internet development in China.
Contents
1. Introduction.- 2. Studying the Internet in China: Relevance of the Topic.- 3. A Historical Overview of the Media Political Economy of the Internet in China.- 4. How Chinese People Use the Internet.- 5. BBSS and Blogs: the First Participatory Online Spaces (2003-2008).- 6. 2008-2011: From the Social Network Services Copycats' Struggle to Sina Weibo (the Most Popular Microblogging Platform).- 7. The Development of Mobile Internet: Weixin (Wechat) a Killer Applicatin for Sina Weibo?.- 8. Conclusions.-
