Journal article 1323 views 543 downloads
The ties that bind: How the dominance of WeChat combines with guanxi to inhibit and constrain China’s contentious politics
New Media & Society, Volume: 21, Issue: 8, Pages: 1714 - 1733
Swansea University Authors:
Yan Wu , Matthew Wall
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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/1461444819830072
Abstract
Despite the market dominance of the 'WeChat' app in today's China, we currently know little about its significance for contentious politics. This paper argues that MIMAs facilitate communication within relatively strong tie networks (compared to conventional Social Network Sites) whic...
Published in: | New Media & Society |
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ISSN: | 1461-4448 1461-7315 |
Published: |
SAGE
2019
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Online Access: |
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URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48613 |
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Abstract: |
Despite the market dominance of the 'WeChat' app in today's China, we currently know little about its significance for contentious politics. This paper argues that MIMAs facilitate communication within relatively strong tie networks (compared to conventional Social Network Sites) which prior research indicates is potentially consequential for patterns of contentious political engagement. Drawing on evidence from a series of Chinese WeChat-user focus groups, we reveal that these ‘chat apps’ create spaces where, although users are often connected through strong ties offline, contentious politics rarely manifests. This trend is driven by a range of dynamics, which we elaborate in a theoretically-informed thematic analysis. When contentious politics does emerge, it is reported by our focus group participants to be largely confined to matters of ‘pragmatic’ and/or ‘safe’ politics that concern defending the interests of individuals or discrete groups, but do not challenge the wider political system. |
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Keywords: |
Digital Political Communication; Contentious Politics; Mobile Instant Messaging Applications; China; WeChat; Social Networks; Strong and Weak Ties; Guanxi |
College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
Issue: |
8 |
Start Page: |
1714 |
End Page: |
1733 |