The Rise Of "Network Public" In Contemporary China

The Wenchuan Earthquake happened in2008attracted the attention of the world for its heavy diaster and complexity. The joint efforts between traditional and network media made it a typical case throughout the history of news broadcasting, especially of diaster report. The imposed involvement of network media, with network public as a representative, marked the diaster relief with strong internet technology influence.Strong shock of the Wenchuan Earthquake brought about the generation of network public with strong sense of responsibility and awareness of active participation. The group first presented itself in the massive diaster reports related to the Wenchuan Earthquake. It was this group that affected the direction of diaster reports by presenting diaster scenes based on unprecedented timely information disclosure, diverse reports,and the struggle for setting news agenda. The network public showed their constructive function through excellent demonstration in politics, differing from the past network comments aiming to expose after the reconstruction phase of diaster relief. The volunteers called for by media events came into reality from virtual space and embodied the spirit of volunteerism through actions. They became the reality counterpart of the network public connecting the virtual with reality, and their actions were stimulating. In addition to traditional media, the network public officially became an independent mainstream of communication team.Thesis introduction outlined the background and significance of the topic,provided a detailed explanation of the term "network public" within the disciplines of political sociology and communication studies in an interdisciplinary approach, and explained the necessity to choose Wenchuan Earthquake in2008as a typical communication case. The present thesis unfolded in terms of the Wenchuan Earthquake process. Based on content analysis of many disaster scenarios, this thesis analyzed the participation behavior of the network public during earthquake time from the following aspects in details:reports of the disaster, internet disaster rumors, political participation of the network public and volunteer actions.The study found the network public rose and shaped suddenly for relying on the development of internet technology and the opportunity of the Wenchuan Earthquake. Furthermore, it suggested the indispensability of the network public as the constructive force in contemporary social reality of China through the demonstration in politics and self-motivated participation in diaster relief process. With the expectation for construction function of the network public, this thesis also investigated irrational behavior generated by the combination of the group and technology through the case study on the behaviour of the network public to transfer the disaster rumors, and explored the necessity and urgency of the government’s realistic management on this virtual space and virtual communities.