CHINA, NEW MEDIA, Commentary: Chinese Bloggers, Information Providers or Hobbyists?
by Chengxi Zhang
When you use Google to search bo ke, the Chinese term meaning blogger, more than two million results will return. More and more netizens in China are starting to blog, most of them are young people around 20, according to a recent online survey.
Meanwhile, western bloggers with great interest in China have written about the development of China's blogosphere, such as Dan Gilmore: "In the current Chinese cyberspace, bloggers may not be as loud as their American counterparts. But they are potentially certainly no less subversive to the dominant paradigm." Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at UC Berkeley, has put the two-year-old Chinese blogosphere into perspective in "The 'blog' revolution sweeps across China".
Actually, many people in China, even some fresh bo ke inside China, don't know what the word "blogger" really means. Most of them first heard about the term bo ke because of the sex dairy of Mu Zimei, which she published on her personal blog. "With explicit details and sometimes even publishing real names, Mu Zimei's sex diary was a hit. By mid-November 2003, more than 160,000 people had logged on to her site and the number was growing by 6000 a day." observed the New Scientists magazine.
Chiu Yung, a blogger from Guangzhou wrote that there are many things other than politics that Chinese bloggers want to express. Many blogs that run on individual websites are not censored or regulated. Business scandals are reported in individual blogs; and residents affected by urban development who blogged their objections to state imposed relocation got attention.
Many Chinese bo ke find that the blog is a wonderful way to share their personal interests or specific knowledge, and what's more, build up their individual prestige on the web. Unlike professional bloggers, many new bloggers lose their passion after posting hundreds of articles without attracting readers or comments. They find it's dismal to keep on updating their blogs if no one cares what they say.
Fortunately, some inspirational bloggers find ways to develop their readership: some put graphic designs on their blogs; some write comments on the news that their friends or workmates care about; and some report the social news or scandals that one can not see in other places. That is, they gain their personal prestige in a specific field efficiently, and keep on blogging with the self-satisfaction of being an information provider.
It's my guess that this is the biggest pleasure of bloggers in China.
When you use Google to search bo ke, the Chinese term meaning blogger, more than two million results will return. More and more netizens in China are starting to blog, most of them are young people around 20, according to a recent online survey.
Meanwhile, western bloggers with great interest in China have written about the development of China's blogosphere, such as Dan Gilmore: "In the current Chinese cyberspace, bloggers may not be as loud as their American counterparts. But they are potentially certainly no less subversive to the dominant paradigm." Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at UC Berkeley, has put the two-year-old Chinese blogosphere into perspective in "The 'blog' revolution sweeps across China".
Actually, many people in China, even some fresh bo ke inside China, don't know what the word "blogger" really means. Most of them first heard about the term bo ke because of the sex dairy of Mu Zimei, which she published on her personal blog. "With explicit details and sometimes even publishing real names, Mu Zimei's sex diary was a hit. By mid-November 2003, more than 160,000 people had logged on to her site and the number was growing by 6000 a day." observed the New Scientists magazine.
Chiu Yung, a blogger from Guangzhou wrote that there are many things other than politics that Chinese bloggers want to express. Many blogs that run on individual websites are not censored or regulated. Business scandals are reported in individual blogs; and residents affected by urban development who blogged their objections to state imposed relocation got attention.
Many Chinese bo ke find that the blog is a wonderful way to share their personal interests or specific knowledge, and what's more, build up their individual prestige on the web. Unlike professional bloggers, many new bloggers lose their passion after posting hundreds of articles without attracting readers or comments. They find it's dismal to keep on updating their blogs if no one cares what they say.
Fortunately, some inspirational bloggers find ways to develop their readership: some put graphic designs on their blogs; some write comments on the news that their friends or workmates care about; and some report the social news or scandals that one can not see in other places. That is, they gain their personal prestige in a specific field efficiently, and keep on blogging with the self-satisfaction of being an information provider.
It's my guess that this is the biggest pleasure of bloggers in China.
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