What do Chinese-language microblog users do with Baidu Baike and Chinese Wikipedia? A case study of information engagement Han-Teng Liao Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom
[email protected] ABSTRACT than in the West [3]. By the first half year of 2010, the content This paper presents a case study of information engagement based produced by amateur Chinese Internet users surpassed that on microblog posts gathered from Sina Weibo and Twitter that produced by professional websites [25]. According to a survey mentioned the two major Chinese-language user-generated report based on 2012 data, around 66.1% of mainland Chinese encyclopaedias. The content analysis shows that microblog users Internet users used a blog/personal space, 54.7% used microblogs, not only engaged in public discussions by using and citing both and 48.8% used social networking websites [5]. One US market encyclopaedias, but also shared their perceptions and experiences report found that 47% of Chinese broadband users had more generally with various online platforms and China’s contributed to UGC in China, including online review sites, filtering/censorship regime to which user-generated content and forums, blogs, etc., and that this UGC content had influenced activities are subjected. This exploratory study thus raises several 58% of purchase decisions in China. Both numbers are much research and practice questions on the links between public higher than the corresponding statistics in the US [23]. discussions and information engagement on user-generated The growth of UGC in mainland China may have contributed to platforms. the creation of a so-called “public opinion monitoring sector” (舆 情监测服務市場), where managers (mostly from the public Categories and Subject Descriptors sector) buy up-to-date information about the latest online public [Human-centered computing]: Collaborative and social opinion in mainland China.