Online Politics
in China & America
COMM 300
Linshan Zhao

Political leaders are using the Internet
IN CHINA IN THE US

Guess how they reached the public
20 years ago…
The Chinese Chairman in 1988 The U.S. President in 1988
 
The Chinese Chairman Deng The U.S. President George W.
Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin in H. Bush in 1988.
1988.

Quotes…
 “In China, the Internet population had reached 210 million in
2008, which made China the second largest country in the world only
next to the U.S.”
 “In the US, 88% of adults under age thirty are online; 71% of
all adults are online.”
 “In the future, the question shouldn’t be whether or not
campaigns use new media and technologies to engage new
members and supporters. It should be HOW they will use
them.”
 “The Internet is finally starting to become an integrated tool for face-
to-face communication and directed, intentional, \"real-world\" actions.”
 “Web 2.0 can help you find and target your young
supporters, volunteers, members, voters, and donors.”

Methods—
Websites
CHINA AMERICA

 President Obama's White House
The blog site called Mixed Eight
website:
Treasure Rice.
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
 http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/8198/132796/

Methods—
Social networking (e.g. Facebook)
CHINA AMERICA

 A unique feature of the Obama
Many people are engaged in this
campaign has been its ability to
social networking website, even
embrace social networking sites like
though there are relatively fewer
MySpace and Facebook. joining Mr.
Facebook users in China than in
Obama's Facebook site - unlike
English speaking countries.
responding to an email message of
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hu-Jin- support - is a public expression of
tao/14875946597?sid=bdb9afc7358a2682 support which can have a broader
c060985fb06d3817&ref=search#/pages/H
political impact.
u-Jin-
tao/14875946597?v=info&viewas=657115
 http://www.facebook.com/barackobama?si
954
d=1b80b417af0976e2fe696a74f3324255&
ref=search

Methods—
And…
 Twitter
 Youtube
OTHERS?
 Tumblr

Questions
 How do you think of politicians from these two countries
use the Internet to generate the public's participation? Do
you it works?
 What would be problems/shortcomings of this way of
communication?
 How about the future? In what ways do you think
politicians are going to use new technologies 10 years
later?

References
 Rigby, B. (2008). Mobilizing generation 2.0: A practical
guide to using Web 2.0 technologies to recruit, organize, and
engage youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Crumlish, C. (2004). The power of many: How the living
Web is transforming politics, business, and everyday life. San
Francisco: Sybex.
 Stone R. (2009). Wenchuan earthquake. A deeply scarred
land. Science (New York, N.Y.). 324 (5928), 713-4.
 China. (2008). Beijing: China Internet Network Information
Center. http://www.cnnic.net.cn/en/index/