This document discusses a study of Chinese bloggers and the narratives and social memory conveyed through their blog posts. The study analyzed 800 blog posts from 200 bloggers on major Chinese platforms. It found that most bloggers' narratives conformed to the "red lines" of censorship and avoided challenging official state narratives, instead telling stories on permitted topics. Older bloggers and those in media/economics were more likely to take a critical stance. The study concludes that censorship and self-censorship have largely prevented Chinese bloggers from challenging the government's control of social memory.

1. An Illusion of E-Democratization
China’s Social Memory in the
Country’s Blog Narratives
Junhua Zhang
Shanghai Jiao Tong University

2. Research questions
• Does a linear-model of cause and effect between
technology (e.g. ICT) and social change work in an
authoritarian state like China?
• What kind of social memory could be shaped
through the narratives conveyed by Chinese
blogs?
– How Chinese bloggers tell their stories?
– What kind of stories are being told?
– Whether a censorship policy has been internalized
among Chinese netizens?

3. Social memory
• Social memory refers to totality of social
experiences of a big social group, be it a nation or
a generation. Social memory is embodied in a
society’s personal or vicarious beliefs about the
past. These beliefs are shaped mostly through
adopting intergenerational narratives.
• The dialectic of blogs: a product of social memory
but they are also shaping/enhancing a certain
type of social memory.

4. Social memory and narratives
• Inseparable connection between social memory
and politically relevant narratives
• One tiny part of the narratives via non-mainstream
media in a “bottom-up” form
• Jointly shaping a social memory created partly
and firstly through official media in a “top-down”
way.

5. Netizens and bloggers in China

6. Literature
• Bowman, S. and Willis, C. "We Media: How
Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and
Information." 2003, The Media Center at the
American Press Institute.
• Lasica, J. D. "What is Participatory Journalism?"
August 7, 2003, Online Journalism Review, August
7, 2003.
• Fouhy, E. M. "Civic Journalism: Rebuilding the
Foundations of Democracy." 1996, The Pew
Partnership for Civic Change.

7. Methodology
• 20 interviews
• Content analysis
– In 2010, my team undertook an analysis of 800 blog texts
compiled by 200 bloggers located in various Chinese
providers.
– Criteria for obtaining samples
• Politically relevant and China-related stories
• Bloggers with a large number of fans based on ranking
• Three webportals:
– www.sohu.com.cn
– www.sina.com.cn
– www.163.com
– two EXCEL sheets to record the result of analysis with
manual coding

8. Finding 1: China’s memory policy
„Dos & Don‘ts“ – Red Line
Competence of the Party
Tibet-issue/Xinjiang-issue/Taiwan-issue
History of the CCP – dark chapters
Foreign policy
Territorial disputes
Ethnic issues
Social conflicts
Direct/ obvious criticism against the state
Democratization
Competence of Individuals
Soft information
Scadals and affairs of
foreign politicians / stars
Criticism against the Party
with „happy end“
Information about stock
market
Information about countries
abroad
Selected foreign reports
translated from a foreign
language
Grey zone

9. Finding 2: age and profession
• Among 200 bloggers for investigation, the age
group of 18-25 makes up only 4%. The most
active age group (38.5%) lies between 36-45,
while bloggers above 45 are the second biggest
group (29%) which is fond of telling politically
relevant stories.
• 1) media workers, 2) Academics and students, 3)
Economists (managers and/or accountants) and
technicians, 4) Manager and CEOs, 5). State
servants, 6) others.

10. Distribution of narratives in relation to
different period
Division of different periods Frequency rate （% ）
Period 1 Before 1911 0.25
Period 2 1911 －1948 5.02
Period 3 1949 －1977 5.77
Period 4 1978 －1989 1.51
Period 5 1990 －2002 0.38
Period 6 2003 －2007 1
Period 7 2008－2010.1 86.07
Total 100.00

11. Finding 3 (N=795)
The division of the types of the stories
(based on the Dos and Donts rule)
Political stance Attitude

12. Stance and attitude cross-tabulation
Stance Total
Conformity Neutral stance Critical stance
Attitude
Cognitive/
Scientific
% within attitude 42.34 44.74 12.91 100.0
% within stance 37.5 48.06 39.81 41.94
Emotional/
Empirical
% within attitude 46.19 38.06 15.75 100.0
% within stance 46.81 46.77 55.56 47.98
Normative % within attitude 73.75 20 6.25 100.0
% within stance 15.69 5.16 4.63 10.08
Total % within attitude 47.36 39.04 13.6 100
% within stance 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Story-tellers whose stance conforms with mainstream discourse tend to be
more normative, while the storytellers taking a neutral stance toward official
narrations s tend to judge the events or persons in their stories on a cognitive
basis. . Narrators who have a critical stance tell their story in a more emotional
way

13. Stance and topics within or outside
the Red Line cross-tabulation
Stance Total
Conformity Neutral
stance
Critical
stance
Within the Red
Line
Ourside the
Red Line
% within topics 43.34 40.56 16.1 100.0
% within stance 74.87 83.97 96.3 81.36
Within the Red
Line
% within topics 63.51 33.78 2.7 100.0
% within stance 25.13 16.03 3.7 18.64
Total % within topics 47.1 39.29 13.6 100
% within stance 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Those who prefer telling stories with topics within the Red Line, tend to be
conformed with the main stream narratation, while those who are critical
toward official “big stories”, are more likely to tell stories with topics which are
outside the Red Line, e.g. within the prescribed competence of individuals.

14. Other findings
• Bloggers with the profession as media workers,
economists or those who are working as white
color tend to be to more critical toward official
narratives while scholars, state servants and
managers mostly avoid to confront or even
challenge the official version of “big stories”.
• Those above 45 are more likely to hold a critical
stance toward official narratives. Other age
groups tend to be more “balanced” and they
prefer a neutral stance.

15. Conclusion
• The censorship and self-censorship work hand
in hand, intendedly or unintendedly.
• A majority of Chinese bloggers does not
appear to be utilizing the new medium to
seriously challenge their government’s
versions of narratives.
• The existing social memory is a patched
memory as the authorities wish to see.