How does Weibo promote the political life of Chinese citizens?

With the rapid popularity of Weibo, a new social media, in China, its role in the political life of Chinese people has also become increasingly apparent. In recent years, one of the most eye-catching phenomena of Weibo changing the political life of Chinese people is Weibo reporting on the Two Sessions. How will Weibo's inclusion in the Two Sessions coverage change public political life and China's political process? What impact will it have on my country's news reform and democratic development? What are the pros and cons? How to respond? These are all questions worth thinking about now. This article will conduct a preliminary discussion on the above issues on the basis of relevant data and the discussion initiated by the author on this topic on Weibo.

When Weibo meets the Two Sessions

The application of Twitter in the United States reflects its strong social attributes. On Twitter, people engage in more interpersonal communication and talk about their personal lives. In China, Weibo embodies stronger media attributes. People use Weibo to obtain information about public affairs that is difficult to obtain in mainstream media, and express their own opinions on it. Therefore, as soon as Weibo appeared in China, it was used to discuss national events such as the Two Sessions.

Weibo’s coverage of the Two Sessions began in 2010, half a year after Sina Weibo began its internal testing. At that time, 48 representatives and committee members of the Communist Party of China published information and comments about the two sessions through Sina Weibo, and directly interacted with netizens, forming a unique landscape. Major media outlets have also opened columns such as Weibo to report on the two sessions, attracting a large number of audiences.

In 2011, Weibo’s reporting of the two sessions was fully promoted. From the central to local governments, various Weibo channels have been opened, becoming an important way to report on the two sessions. People's Daily Online has launched a special topic on the 2011 National Two Sessions since March 1, and focused on creating a "Weibo report on the Two Sessions". There are 114 representatives and committee members who have set up Weibo columns on People's Daily Online alone. Many of them use Weibo as the main channel to release information about the two sessions and understand public sentiment. For example, Zhan Guoshu, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a senior reporter at the People's Daily, posted 36 Weibo posts in one day to report on the meeting. ①

In addition to the National Two Sessions, Weibo reports have also emerged on the Two Sessions in various places this year. For example, on Sina Weibo, you can see the "Micro Talk about the Two Sessions" of the Xiamen Two Sessions, and the "Micro Talk of the Two Sessions" of the Nanchang Two Sessions. "Interactive Weibo Group for Political Discussion", Guangdong's CPPCC members' Weibo "live broadcast" of government work reports, Wuhan's "Two Sessions Micro Interviews", etc. ②

Searching on Sina Weibo with the keyword "Two Sessions", it was found that between March 1 and 31, 2010, there were 129,651 related Weibo posts, including original ones. 61,790 items, accounting for 47.7% of the total. Changing the time to March 2011, *** searched 525,682 Weibo posts related to the Two Sessions, 4 times that of 2010, and 344,783 original Weibo posts, 5.6 times that of 2010. The proportion of original Weibo posts Also increased by 65.6%. These data show that Weibo plays an increasingly important role in the dissemination of information about the two sessions.

The benefits of reporting on Weibo for the Two Sessions

The reason why people are so enthusiastic about reporting on Weibo for reporting on the Two Sessions is because they see the unique advantages of Weibo in political communication. These advantages mainly include the following three aspects:

First, improve the way of conference reporting. The introduction of Weibo can, on the one hand, omit the endless official talk, clichés and nonsense, and report the most valuable "dry information" that the people are most concerned about; on the other hand, the "short and fast" Weibo also makes some people in the meeting Vivid, humane details are presented to the public in real time. In a Weibo discussion organized by the author on Weibo reporting on the Two Sessions, Associate Professor Xu Min, deputy director of the Institute of Journalism at Zhejiang University, believed: “Weibo serves as a channel, with active tributaries, and the information is naturally more lively; as a presentation, it has rich contacts , the outline is naturally more complete." Blogger Hu Han believes that Weibo can play the role of a convergence medium in the media communication chain, and can integrate with other new media or traditional media systematically rather than instrumentally, thus making various Maximize the advantages of media tools. Therefore, in the eyes of many media people, a small step for Weibo means a giant step for news reporting.

Second, create a fair space for free discussion. The Two Sessions are the most important democratic deliberation mechanism in China. They are an important system in which elected deputies to the National People's Congress and nominated and recommended members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference collect and organize opinions and demands from the people, convey them to the central government, and participate in political decision-making. However, because some representatives or committee members fail to represent the public well, the voice of the public cannot be conveyed well, thus affecting the process and effect of democratic decision-making. How to fully promote the fair expression of social members, achieve positive interaction between the state and society, and base government decision-making on the basis of public opinion is a common concern among domestic scholars. ③The emergence of new media technology, especially the rise of Weibo, seems to have provided Chinese people with a platform to express their opinions and discuss public affairs. Especially when this platform is connected to mainstream media and representative committees, it will have stronger potential for democratic deliberation. Professor Chen Xianhong, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Information Communication at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, pointed out that the Weibo network is extensible, interactive and medial. These attributes are important conditions for Weibo to create a public domain.

Third, stimulate public political interest.

It is not enough to have a public space. It is also necessary for members of society to have enough interest and motivation to participate in the discussion of public affairs in this space. In the era of traditional media, ordinary people can only express their opinions through limited channels, such as the petition office, the mayor's mailbox, letters from readers or phone calls from listeners. Because these methods of expression and participation have little effect, members of society feel apathetic towards politics and their political self-efficacy is also quite low. Weibo's low threshold has greatly reduced people's costs of political participation, and its high interactivity and extensibility have increased the benefits of people's political participation. Therefore, when many representatives conveyed suggestions from bloggers during the two sessions, netizens' interest in political participation was further stimulated. In this regard, blogger "Today" believes that at this stage, Weibo is the best tool to stimulate citizens' political interest and participation in politics. Zhu Chunyang, associate professor of the School of Journalism at Fudan University, pointed out: "If the Two Sessions on Weibo form an efficiency dispute with the actual Two Sessions, it will be of great benefit!"

The Disadvantages of Weibo Reporting on the Two Sessions

Of course, in Behind the craze on Weibo, we should also examine the problems that may arise from Weibo reporting on the Two Sessions. At present, the disadvantages caused by Weibo reporting on the Two Sessions are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First, entertainment-oriented political reporting

Although entertainment-oriented political reporting is beneficial to some extent It can bring back politically apathetic audiences, but its playful perspective can also make people miss the point or create political bias. Although Weibo can make the coverage of the Two Sessions more lively, it also encourages reports to focus too much on tidbits and deviate from the themes of the Two Sessions. In an interview on Weibo, Ke Sheng, assistant editor-in-chief of "Macau Report" magazine, pointed out that "the reporters brothers and sisters he met during the two sessions all posted various embarrassing photos of representatives and members on Weibo. Representatives found that It’s useless to ask the reporter to delete it, it’s too late, it has already been forwarded.”

Second, conference reports are fragmented

Weibo has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, short means precision and speed; on the other hand, it may also lead to the fragmentation of coverage of the two sessions, which is not conducive to the public's overall understanding of important and complex issues. Yang Yuehui, assistant analyst at the Public Opinion Monitoring Office of People's Daily Online, said: "Weibo's inherent shortcomings determine its 'shortcomings' in reporting serious content such as the Two Sessions. 'Fragmentation' and word limit limits make it impossible to spread content that is complete and comprehensive. There may even be situations where the views of a representative committee member are quoted out of context. "Egami Yejun" pointed out, "Weibo is like a private car. Everyone has a car, so they are very happy; but national freight and passenger transportation are still limited." We need large-scale transportation. Weibo gives us the right to speak, but other forms of expression are needed to inspire people’s wisdom and promote social progress.” “A Catfish” also believes that if reporting starts on Weibo, blogs and portal reports will follow up. , perhaps more comprehensive.

Third, the hierarchization of cyberspace

Although people only need low social, political and economic capital to enter the virtual Weibo space, what do people do after entering? , what impact it will have is a more important issue. Studies have shown that people's power distribution offline is often directly reflected online, making some people speak more and louder online, while others are confused or ignored. ④ Blogger Song Xushun pointed out that Weibo is a tower-shaped structure. In this structure, there is more top-down information transmission than bottom-up, and fans often hope to obtain effective information from followers. Moreover, the authority of the communicator is more persuasive than the content itself. This is not conducive to the formation of a "free market of opinions" that truly represents public opinion. Instead, it enters a vicious circle of self-talk. Professor Li Yan, director of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Zhejiang University, pointed out: “The Two Sessions were originally political (power) events, mainly made up of official articles, and Weibo was mixed in, turning Weibo into a political (power) communication medium.”

Fourth, the formalization of political discussion on Weibo

Although Weibo helps to construct the public domain on the Internet, due to institutional reasons, political discussion on Weibo is to a large extent It's still just a formality. Blogger "hello Liu Liu" pointed out that some representative members' Weibo accounts have not been updated after registration, and the Weibo accounts are nominal but not real. Zhu Wenyi, editor-in-chief of Maopu.com, believes that Weibo is a product of technological freedom that subverts information control. It will certainly form a new communication control and order, but it has no compatibility with the Two Sessions. He pointed out that the government always deliberately tried to dance with the new media, but failed to notice that it was still wearing "suspended pants." At the same time, the current Weibo political discussion still has the problem of short-term effects. Whenever the two sessions come to an end, the enthusiasm of the representatives on Weibo also fades.

Which way should we go if Weibo reports on the two sessions?

Weighing the pros and cons, the author believes that the benefits of reporting on Weibo outweigh the disadvantages. When facing the controversy about Weibo, we must see the core problem currently facing China, which is the problem of social fault lines. As Yu Jianrong said, social faults and the bottom society have become a major feature of China’s social structure today. ⑤The various mass incidents currently occurring are largely related to the contradiction between the bottom society and the elite alliance. How to make government decision-making more considerate of the interests and demands of the increasingly large underclass society, thereby bridging social gaps, is a key issue that needs to be explored. Weibo undoubtedly provides an opportunity to solve this problem. The expression platform and empowering effect provided by Weibo for ordinary people are what is most needed at the moment.

Of course, how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages and better utilize the true value of Weibo is also an issue that cannot be ignored. In the future, efforts should be made from at least three aspects: first, narrowing the digital divide. Currently, Weibo users tend to be younger and more highly educated, and cannot represent broader public opinion. In the future, we need to encourage more people, especially those at the bottom of society, to learn to use Weibo to express themselves. Second, enrich the level of reporting. Weibo is not a panacea. For major political events such as the Two Sessions, it is necessary to comprehensively utilize various media channels and reporting methods so that the public can not only watch the excitement, but also gain a more comprehensive understanding. Third, promote deliberative democracy. It is necessary to take advantage of Weibo's opportunity to report on the two sessions and build Weibo into a normal and fair platform for discussion. The government should incorporate Weibo deliberations into the system of political consultation and decision-making to prevent new fault lines from emerging.

(The author is an associate professor at the School of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University)

This article is one of the results of Zhejiang Qianjiang Talent Program "3G New Media: Usage Patterns and Social Impact" QJC1002004