A Twitter Knockoff Has China Talking
The news is about Sina Weibo took advantage of a social media vacuum to become the top micro-blogging service in China.
Weibo has become part of life of many Chinese. More than 50 million Chinese are the weibo users. It is a micro-blogging service provided by Sina. I would comment it as twitter in Chinese style. A lot of friends around me created their own Weibo accounts and become every bloggers. They usually post the short messages. Also, they love checking the status of the celebrities by becoming the “followers” of the famous stars- in order to get topic to gossip with friends. In fact, Sina uses this practice as a gimmick to attract new user.
However, can weibo users enjoy the freedom of speech under the straight censorship of Chinese government? For example, when the weibo users write message about Tiananmen Square protests, their passage will be automatic deleted as the content is sensitive. Although a lot of users complained about that practice, censorship still takes place nowadays. A lot of people know the consequence of violating the rules of the Communist Party when they see nobel peace prize winner Liu xiaobo is now in jail. In the modern countries like the U.S, Britain and other developed countries, bloggers can have right to express what they think and feel. It is sad that the Chinese government try to control the thinking of the citizens by using backward practice. I agree that Sina Weibo users' toleration of its censorship practice will determine the living space of weibo.
Are blogs journalism? I think it can’t be applied in China. As I mentioned before, there is a strict censorship in China, it is common to see Chinese government to conceal the fact in many cases. Moreover, even the trained reporters in China will create “fake news” to boost sales volume, how can we trust the news reported by normal bloggers which without watchdog? In my opinion, the passages posted on weibo can be the source of news for journalists, but only suitable for the entertainment news. Can we say weibo is blog? I won’t agree it is a blog as it can’t provide a place for people to enjoy freedom of speech.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_09/b4217039139980.htm
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