Home Cultural Studies The Evolution of the Chinese Internet
book: The Evolution of the Chinese Internet
Book
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The Evolution of the Chinese Internet

Creative Visibility in the Digital Public
  • Shaohua Guo
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2020
View content
View more publications by Stanford University Press
To Publisher Page

About this book

Despite widespread consensus that China's digital revolution was sure to bring about massive democratic reforms, such changes have not come to pass. While scholars and policy makers alternate between predicting change and disparaging a stubbornly authoritarian regime, in this book Shaohua Guo demonstrates how this dichotomy misses the far more complex reality. The Evolution of the Chinese Internet traces the emergence and maturation of one of the most creative digital cultures in the world through four major technological platforms: the bulletin board system, the blog, the microblog, and WeChat. Guo transcends typical binaries of freedom and control, to argue that Chinese Internet culture displays a uniquely sophisticated interplay between multiple extremes, and that its vibrancy is dependent on these complex negotiations. In contrast to the flourishing of research findings on what is made invisible online, this book examines the driving mechanisms that grant visibility to particular kinds of user-generated content. Offering a systematic account of how and why an ingenious Internet culture has been able to thrive, Guo highlights the pivotal roles that media institutions, technological platforms, and creative practices of Chinese netizens have played in shaping culture on- and offline.

Author / Editor information

Shaohua Guo is Associate Professor of Chinese at Carleton College.

Reviews

"Built on over a decade of scrupulous field research and perspicacious on-site observations, this book puts itself on the must-read list of intellectual endeavors inquiring into the way of being on China's ever-evolving internet. Subtly contextualized and dexterously historicized, the narratives embed rich concepts in the flesh and blood of everyday life, virtual and real."—Zixue Tai, University of Kentucky --- "Guo brings much-needed historical and literary sensitivities to the study of complex technological forms. Her innovative approach sheds critical new light on the history, culture, and politics of the Chinese internet. Highly recommended!"—Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    i
    Download PDF
  • Publicly Available

    CONTENTS

    vii
    Download PDF
  • Publicly Available

    Acknowledgments

    ix
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    1 A Cultural Revolution in China’s Digital Age

    1
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    2 A Historical Overview through Technological Platforms

    23
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    3 Tracking Playfulness

    59
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    4 National Blogging and Cultural Entrepreneurship

    97
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    5 Taboo Breakers and Microcultural Contention

    124
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    6 Digital Witnessing on Weibo

    164
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    7 WeChat

    199
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    8 Ambivalent Revolution

    229
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    Notes

    235
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    Bibliography

    255
    Download PDF
  • Requires Authentication Unlicensed
    Licensed

    Index

    291
    Download PDF

Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
December 10, 2020
eBook ISBN:
9781503614444
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
328
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503614444
eBook ISBN: 9781503614444
Keywords for this book
China; digital public; Internet; culture; platforms; creative visibility; media; user-generated content; discursive liberties; revolution
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Winner of the OpenAthens UX Award 2026
Winner of the OpenAthens UX Award 2026
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 7.3.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781503614444/html
Scroll to top button