Internet-based "protest" With China's Social Transformation

The rapid development of internet, together with the activism more and more occurring in today's China, raised more and more challenges toward the whole society while at the same time also formed the important indication that China's reform and opening up has entered a critical stage.Compared with the traditional activism mainly based on manual operation, internet-based activism has unique advances in three aspects. Firstly, activism subject, via internet, can quickly find or create symbol with specific meaning which could launch political mobilization and power condensation far quickly than ever before. Secondly, a lever easier to find and obtain is now available for activism subject to search and enlarge the opponents'inner contradiction so as to expend self voice and finally changed the counterbalance in the activism process. Thirdly, activism subject, via internet, can easily transcend the time and geographical limitations and be able to conduct continually and intense debate on an almost timely and borderless political debate platform until subject find a satisfactory result.According to China society's practice, internet-based activism can be regarded as the external behavior for those born in late culture revolution started to participate in the decision-making procedures of public policy. Chinese born in 70s,80s, even 90s comment on rapidly changing social affairs through increasingly developed and powerful internet network, and through such process, finish socialization of politics.However, internet-based activism is not a perfect replacement for current political system changes, but rather an effective supplementary channel as well as a buffer space with certain endurance. The final completion of China society reforming still rely on system construction upon real world, instead of ideas and expression in virtual world. At the same time, activism subjects and governments at all levels will have to confront ordeals such as how to avoid internet activism being monopolized by few elites; how to avoid the small groups which have advantage of capital to manipulate the topic setting and discussion process; and how to avoid certain politicized operating functional activism event by internet.Charles Edwin Baker says, internet is neither conception nor knowledge. It is neither passion nor value. It cannot be regarded as wisdom nor meaning. Although internet can accelerate the creation, emergency and circulation of such kind of things, the ultimate actual result still depends on how people use internet. Therefore, not internet itself, but the impact of internet on resistance activity and the political impact in specific time and industry will be discussed in this dissertation. Generally speaking, from the point of view of resistance theory in this essay, information technology, representing by internet, is playing an important and delicate double-edged role in China's society open-up and reform process. On one side, lower and lower access to internet standards provide lower-income masses that lack system but eager to participate in politics an effective substitute. It promote the development of activism and offer active means to condition abuse of public right for personal or group profit. On the other side, internet-based activism enlarges, rather than shortens, the inner disparity of activism subject. Moreover, the result of activism depends more and more on factors such as network operating technology, media propagandizing ability on topic, economic resources and personal direct social network, which strictly challenge the public interest and universality of activism. Upon macro level, widespread web-based activism is also a double-edged sword for China to deal with cautiously on whole society transforming. For one thing, highly developed network offers an effective solution to the information distortion problem in society reforming that disturbs China so long a time. It can, theoretically, solve the distortion problems on information delivery, even policy establishment and implementation caused by deception among certain bureaucracy departments, or few interest groups. For the other, highly developed web, esp. highly developed multinational network, has activism, functional or routine, on politicized risk. What's the worse, instead of find out the core of the problem, it's possible to become a threat to the social stability. Taking frequently occurred "Color Revolution" in former Russian and East European countries as a reference, the result of such politicization did no good or help at all to activist's expectation. And it will cause an absolute disaster to the development of the whole society.In the interactive relationship between web-based activism and the establishment of the socialist democracy in real world, there exists not only mutual complementary and excitation, but also competition and extrusion. From the whole framework of China's country establishment, we shall aim to work out a compromising solution to handle the relationship, and a stable and applicable access system between reform on real system and virtual activism.