Studio Session 1 Reflection

In class we began to research and discuss the Chinese blogosphere. It is interesting that because sites such as Twitter and Facebook are blocked in China, many Chinese people choose to blog on sites such as Weibo in order to express their opinions. One aspect that we discussed was the fact that sites such as Weibo are under constant scrutiny from the Chinese government and many bloggers have been arrested because of their posts, whether they are highly popular political activists with millions of followers or teenagers who spread false rumors. I was aware of the amount of censorship of social media in China, but it remains very surprising to read about the extent to which Chinese authorities are cracking down on bloggers. Despite this, the blogosphere seems to have become the voice of the people in China. We also discussed the human flesh search engine, which is a quite frightening way for internet users to target and attack an individual. This entails the publication of all of the individual’s personal information in order to publicly humiliate them. Doing so is now a prosecutable crime in China, but it remains a fascinating yet scarily efficient form of cyber bullying. Going forward, I am intrigued to learn more about the effects of government involvement in the Chinese blogosphere and how people in China use the blogosphere for political and social reasons.