Analysis Of Evolution And Effects Of Network Public Opinions

The internet has become the most active platform for the folk public opinion in China. The great population of netizens can put up follow-up messages after the news or posts in the forum about any topics related to the international or domestic events and contingencies, and thus the online public opinions emerge. The active speeches by Chinese netizens are unprecedented. Being it the domestic events or international events, online opinions take shape immediately, and thus even produce enormous pressure, which is so profound that any authorities, bodies or even public figures cannot ignore.The scale of the online opinions as such is a unique social phenomenon in China. It is rare to have over-flooding online opinions from the public in the western countries where the internet technologies and application are highly developed, even though the internet, as the emerging media, also serves as the important platform and channel for social intercourse and political involvement. In Chinese internet, not only are there hot topics bursting online with hundreds of thousands of people taking part in the discussions, but also there are related activities organized for such topics. The multiple interactions between internet opinions and traditional media, the view exchanges between the commentators, the feedback interaction between the opinion leaders and the netizens have worked together to form the streams of public opinions that exert great impact on the progress of events.It is not a coincident that such phenomenon occurs in China. In the context of the world financial tsunami, various conflicts are showing through which have been accumulated during the thirty years of economic growth and social transformation, and it has the tendency to intensify sometimes and somewhere. But, in reality, due to the lack of a platform for the public to voice their views, the public find it hard to become part of the decision-making and judgment of public policies and public affairs through official system channels. There is a traditional space for public opinions with sufficient freedom for speeches and press lacking other than the official system, which is used to release the public opinions and effectively monitor the decision-making and judgment of the official system through the fourth power. Therefore, thanks to its communicative characteristic, the internet comes naturally as a convenient channel for the public to express views, comments and release their emotions when it comes to popularity immediately in China. Meanwhile, it brings about the situation that the supervision by public opinions from internet media is vigorous and intense than that from traditional media.Group action gives the special nature to human society, and any group changes the way of doing things, which will definitely affect the whole community.In the past, only the prestigious class and elite class have the right to voice their views, while the internet has given the right to speak to the common mass including the weaker group and marginal group. The public has gained access to unprecedented space for expressing public opinions and more freedom of speech. The internet has eventually become an important channel for the government to hear the public voices and views, which has enhanced the process of social democratization.However, in this context lacking constraint of the real-life laws and moralities, people can have their desires amplified and satisfied infinitely. With the cover of anonymity, people can talk as they wish. The netizens throw their speeches randomly which are neither well intended nor focused on some topics, and unclearly oriented. It causes some negative impact. Problems are prompting up in succession, such as distracted social viewpoints, disclosure of privacies, increase of rumor, extreme thoughts and irrationality, abuses and attacks, group conformity and impulses, and etc. Human biologists Garret Hardin have already designated the phenomenon that human beings misuse the public resources as "tragedy of public grazing ground" ("the common grounds, where overgrazing led to discontinuation of the common's use as public grazing ground"). Some scholars came to use this argument, the network moral dilemma known as tragedy of public electronic grazing ground. (Zeng Guoping 2000,16-21.)It has become an important subject of discussion to take advantage of the occasion, maintain correct orientation of the public opinions, contain its destructive forces and promote the healthy development of internet public opinions. The international internet has grown from the open and free stage to a period in urgent need of normalized and systematic monitoring and governance. It has become a global consensus that the network environment awaits urgent governance.