Description: Introducing the concept of state-sponsored platformization, this volume shows the complexity behind the central role the party-state plays in shaping social media platforms. The wide-ranging essays presented here explore the mobile radio service Ximalaya.FM, Alibaba's evolution into a multi-platform ecosystem, livestreaming platforms in the United States and China, the role of Twitter in Trump's North Korea diplomacy, user-generated content in the news media, the emergence of new social agents mediating between state and society, social media art projects, Chinese and US scientists' use of social media, and reluctance to engage with WeChat. Ultimately, readers will find that the ten chapters in this volume contribute significant new research and insights to the fast-growing scholarship on social media in China at a time when online communication is increasingly constrained by international struggles over political control and privacy issues.
Brief description: Wei Wang is a lecturer at USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. She received her PhD from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. She is interested in China's economic restructuring, rural-urban links, digital activism, and new economic forms. Her dissertation, "Agricultural Informatization and Agrarian Power Dynamics in Rural China," examines different modes of applying ICTs and the changing power structures in a glocalized and commercialized agriculture sector. Her articles have appeared in New Media & Society, International Journal of Communication, and other publications.
Review Quotes: "An excellent volume on Chinese social media platforms, and their multiple facets in economy, culture, and politics--all sponsored by the partystate, yet the landscape is full of tensions. Highly recommended."
--JACK QIU, professor, Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore