Introduction
The unprecedented rise of social media in China, involving for various reasons the use of
homegrown and localized applications instead of global ones, has its origin in the decision by
the Chinese state in the late 1990s (Damm and Thomas 2006; Leibold 2011; F. Liu 2011; Xiao
2011) to foster the informatization (xinxihua) of its society in order to leapfrog economic deve-
lopment, to place China among the front ranks of global, economic, and political players, and to
control the content so as to preempt any potential threat to social and political stability. This has
led to a cat and mouse game being played between the state—the CCP (Chinese Communist
Party)—and netizens who use the social media applications for commercial purposes, for inter-
action, and for critical engagement with the state (Yu 2011).
In this part I shall first provide an overview of the history of social media in China and some
basic facts and figures. Second, I present how the role played by the state has led to popular prac-
tices involving the use of social media as a political playing field and for the purpose of parody
in the cat and mouse game being played with the censors. Third, I show how social media have
become a replacement for traditional media as well as a tool for improving traditional media
(Xu 2015). These points shall be illustrated by references to a few well-known cases. Finally,
I consider the question of the extent to which Chinese social media are integrated with other
Asian cyber cultures, including those of Taiwan and Hong Kong. In order to provide a future
perspective, a brief look will be taken at some of the more recent developments that have
occurred since Xi Jinping became President, in order to assess whether, as a result of certain
control mechanisms, the content of social media has shifted from being social and political to
being trivial, commercialized, and geared to entertainment.
Historical overview, facts, and figures
Up until 1992, the Internet in China was not developed and was used only for the exchange
of emails among a few selected destinations. Between 1992 and 1995, a national infrastructure
was built, which was then followed by the construction of the Great Firewall. Since 1998, the
Internet has become a powerful social tool in China, while, at the same time, technological
improvement and control have played a dominant role (Clark and Harwit 2006).