Event reports
In 2012 the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung continued the successful cooperation with the
FU Berlin|Center of Global Politics and the Fudan University in form of an international summer school. This year’s workshop "Sharing and Shaping Opinions in the Age of New/Social Media" occupied with the following questions: What kind of chances and risks do new/social media pose to the public? How can they be used to find solutions for major challenges of the Chinese society? Which consequences do social networks and blogs have for traditional journalism, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the relationship between government and citizens?
In the first Panel Xing Wei, reporter of the Shanghai newspaper Oriental Morning Post explained the challenges that traditional Chinese journalism is facing. Because information is normally published much faster in social media than in newspapers and magazines, journalists often have to rather react than being the source of the news themselves. When carrying out research they often use information from microblogs (such as Sina Weibo) and reports about discussions on internet platforms become a more and more important component of classic media reports. This challenge can only be dealt with if journalists keep their professionality and provide well researched background information. In his opinion professional journalism remains an important addition to social media, because it analyses the reliability of information and provides a basis for their interpretation.
The second panel discussed how NGOs can make use of social networks. In her presentation Dr. Yu Zhiyuan from the Institute of Sociology at Fudan University, described, how they revert to online platforms, to inform people about their goals, attract volunteers and to bid for donations. The use of Weibo is a cost-saving opertunity for small organisations, as they can get in contact with donators without having their own complex website.
Prof. Shen Yi from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University illustrated how social media enhances the political activity of Chinese citizens. The majority of internet users are average people with a relatively low income and an average education. Nevertheless an intensive discussion about social problems takes places within social networks. Increasingly ordinary people are becoming opinion leaders and activists and stand up for their rights. On the other hand he also pointed out the problem that often wrong information is spread, which has the effect that internet users become active without knowing the actual truth.
In the following debate it was discussed, whether social networks - which are dominated by Chinese language content and are rarely used by foreigners – cause a strong focus on domestic topics. The experts present disagreed and argued that Weibo is intensively used as a platform to exchange ideas on international topics as well. For instance international media is often commented on and translated into Chinese on social networks, to make it available to a broader audience.
The use of microblogs by China’s governmental institutions also increases. Prof. Shen explained that this has led to a considerable improvement in communication with and the services provided to the public by those institutions. As an example he pointed out the Weibo of Shanghai’s municipal government „Shanghai Fabu“. It updates news about traffic and storms within minutes and immediately forwards suggestions and complaints from citizens to the responsible administrative offices which are then much faster dealt with than in the past. Fundamental criticism of the government is also taken more serious, resulting in an enlarged opportunity for active civic participation in political processes.