Masaryk university
CONCLUSION Summary and Significance of the Findings
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CONCLUSION
In this thesis, I investigated how the use of Weibo affects collective action involvement. By conducting online surveys through the snowball sampling technique to collect voluntary respondents, as well as through online synchronous interviews, I was able to collect original evidence about Weibo use and collective action participation. A total of 206 responses were received through online survey; 179 of them were from Weibo users. Using the survey data, I investigated the association between collective action involvement and three distinct sets of Weibo activist characteristics: informational Weibo use, Weibo use frequencies, and Weibo activism use. Following the survey, online synchronous interviews were conducted to tap into some related questions about the major motivations driving them to use Weibo, Weibo’s effect in their collective action participation, and how they perceive Weibo slacktivism. A total of seven interviewees recruited from the online survey were interviewed via instant message software. Analyses were presented separately from quantitative to qualitative. The analysis began with the correlational analysis between Weibo use motives and Weibo use frequencies. Informational use was found to be associated with different Weibo use patterns. The result supported the hypothesis that Weibo is primarily used as an information channel. The second part of analysis examined the relationship between individual factors, Weibo use patterns, and Weibo activism use. It concluded that Weibo activism is positively related with Weibo use frequencies and informational use. However, SES markers such as education and monthly income appeared to have no relationship with Weibo activism. The final part of analysis explored the predictors for collective action. There are five forms of collective action: boycotting, signing petitions, online protests, offline protests, and Weibo-driven events. None of the respondents engaged in any forms of offline protest over the past year. Further analysis showed that Weibo use had no predictability of involvement in boycotts or petitions, indicating that Weibo has a very limited effect in mobilizing offline collective action. On the other hand, Weibo use was related to participation in online protests and Weibo-driven events. Informational Weibo use and more frequent Weibo use predict higher involvement in online protests and Weibo-driven events. The fact that Weibo activism use has no significant association with any forms of collective action is the most surprising finding in this thesis. In one sense, it is paradoxical to see that while people are actively forwarding content related to various activism issues, they are not necessarily motivated to personally join in any form of protest. Overall, my results are contrary to Xiaoru Wang’s (2009) finding that political net use is not associated with any forms of protest in China. Online protests and Weibo-driven events were affected by Weibo use. However, Wang’s research was based on internet users from the pre-Web 2.0 era, when social network sites were not widely used by Chinese netizens. My research suggests that in the age of social network sites, Weibo is still likely to be a game changer that challenges the state information control. Despite growing censorship pressure, Weibo is still the place where sensitive news is broken out with the power to trigger collective action mobilization. This finding resembles Sullivan’s (2011) conclusion that Weibo is coming to be like a “western tabloid press,” allowing news to reach many people instantaneously so that the government has to respond. Otherwise, the furious netizens would be likely to quickly assemble into riotous opposition protestors, like the netizens did after the Wenzhou train collision. However, one finding is consistent with Wang’s conclusion: Weibo has very limited impact in mobilizing offline protest. Contrary to the wide and powerful mobilization effect facilitated by social network sites like Twitter in Western societies and the Arab world, there are very few people who will take the risk of joining in offline protest in China. The government is still very alarmed about any forms of offline protest or oppositional movement. Taken together, a plausible explanation for these results emerged: Weibo is actually transforming online activism into online slacktivism. Participation in online protest or Weibo-driven events would appear to exert a mobilizing influence, but the only involvement is one click that ends with itself. Far from being a catalyst for collective action, Weibo actually serves as an inhibitor that satisfies those who are sympathetic to collective action causes, but reluctant to make any substantial contribution. In this sense, the most fundamental change may not be the way in which Weibo has changed online activism or mobilized collective action, but the way it effectively inhibits the possibilities for offline collective action through Weibo slacktivism. Slacktivism is activism performed on Internet without serious consideration of the effectiveness of the act, for example virtual sit-ins and online petitions. Slacktivism makes actors feel good about themselves, but is unable to achieve a concrete political goal (Morozov 2009). The criticisms against slacktivism are generally focused on two issues: 1) compared with traditional forms of engagement, slacktivism engages little effort with less efficacy; 2) slacktivism is unable to achieve its intended goals (Christensen 2011). Online petitions, often seen as one of the typical forms of slacktivism, require minimal effort for people to sign, and promote low cost effort instead of substantial engagement offline. However, there are also scholars who defend slacktivism. Christensen (2011) argued that not all traditional forms of activism acts are efficient and require substantial effort. The fact that it is difficult to measure the outcome of slacktivism might contribute to the frequent criticism of its effectiveness. Gladwell (2010) stated that slacktivism is raising people’s awareness as well as changing opinions, which is also a kind of activism. Moreover, online and offline participation are not mutually exclusive. An online survey conducted by TNS Global showed that slacktivists are actually likely to participate in more than twice as many activism activities than non-slacktivists. They are also more likely to volunteer and ask others to show support for causes (Ogilvy PR and CSIC 2011). While there is still limited research being done in China related to slacktivism, the final parts of this thesis provided insights into the main findings of the survey through interviews with Weibo users. The results suggest that Weibo is used by the interviewees as an information source as well as an entertainment tool. The potential for using Weibo for collective action was not their concern. There are times when they forward online protest posts or Weibo-driven charity events. However, most of the time they are not particularly concerned about contentious issues. Paradoxically, most of the respondents still believed that Weibo had promoted freedom of speech and increased the power of online activism. One of the reasons mentioned by one interviewee is that the Chinese government is actually taking online opinion seriously, which is also why they inflicted strong control on Weibo. In general, the respondents believed that Weibo is still better than nothing for Chinese netizens. Unlike Western societies, Chinese people might not be willing to participate in offline protest with or without the Internet and Weibo. Notwithstanding the seemingly gloomy picture of slacktivism I have depicted above, I believe my research still suggests an optimistic picture for collective action in the age of Web 2.0. While studies in Western societies about collective action emphasize coordination and communication among members (Boase, Horrigan, Wellman, and Rainie 2006; Kavanaugh, Reese, Carroll, and Rosson 2005), such types of groups with specific political orientations might be difficult to form in the current Chinese political context. Weibo can serve as a communication tool for individuals to form connections online or offline with its incorporated functions of BBS and instant messaging. Sociologists have always emphasized the motivation driving participants to join in collective action. Weibo-driven collective action is undoubtedly a new form with distinct features. Low costs of participation have obliterated the rational reasoning process before involvement. Thus, more people would be likely to voluntarily join by “emotional stimulation” (Melucci 1996). Instead of aiming at “economic incentives”, participants might be more driven by “social or psychological” incentives—to gain friendship, respect, or simply to feel good through their action (Olson 1971). Even though there are criticisms that slacktivism cannot reach its goals (Christensen 2011), examples of successful online collective action in China refute this statement. It is repeatedly stated by researchers that the Chinese online sphere is actually deeply intertwined with the offline world (Sullivan 2011; Yang 2009). The Chinese government so far appears to be very attentive to collective action formed online. So, even issue-based reactions from the government might stimulate more actors to resort to Weibo. Despite criticisms of slacktivism for its lack of solidarity among participants, the visibility of the mobilization of other participants online can boost the confidence of participants. Actions taken by one participant could be broadcasted towards a wide audience. In the end, this might bring a positive effect on motivating other participants. To sum up, in China, where the democratic political system is still emerging, online collective action might be one of the most important forms of unofficial democratic participation by which netizens can participate in public affairs. The low cost of online collective action has attracted more voluntary participants driven by non-economic incentives or emotional stimulation. Successful examples of online collective action further prove that in the current context, it is still a feasible route to achieve actors’ common interests. Political communication is an essential prerequisite for political action. Results also suggested that Weibo might alter the communication pattern of a wide range of netizens, with its significantly lowered threshold to involvement. With more information flowing freely, it is easier to gather attention, as well as involve more actors than ever before. Growing Weibo populations from various social groups, organizations, and even government departments might even boost the amplification effect of Weibo. In this sense, Weibo is advancement indeed, even possibly leading to democratization in future China.
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