Online Groups in China Guobin Yang Barnard College, Columbia University January 21, 2011

1. Online Groups in China Guobin Yang Barnard College, Columbia University January 21, 2011

2. I. Phenomena of interest Proliferation of online groups in China Growth of online philanthropy & online public welfare (网络公益）

3. Varieties of online groups by web services BBS forums(e.g. Tianya “guantian”) Mailing-lists (e.g.绿家园江河信息) Mobile phone contact lists QQ circles (QQ群） Online newsletters / magazines (e.g.“Translators”译者”) Douban reading groups (豆瓣小组） Blog circles (博客圈） Baidu post bar Groups on Kaixin/renren Weibo/microblog circles Twitter groups Google groups Skype groups

4. Size (450+ million netizens) Numerous BBS forums, blog circles, and microblog circles in major web sites (e.g. Tianya registered users exceed 47 million) Douban groups (18,057 Nov 13, 2006; 210,000 Jan 18, 2010) Baidu post bar (百度贴吧：over 200,000 active postbars as of September 28, 2010 http://www.techweb.com.cn/news/2010-09-28/689794.shtml) QQ circles (QQ群）(over 50 million as of Jan. 18, 2011) A survey in 2005 shows that on average, college students were members of 1.8 campus clubs or associations, and of 1.99 online associations (Zan 2005) A survey of 1482 internet users in 2010 shows 95% reported making online donations (Shi 2010)

5. Significance of online groups: A hotbed of protest and contention: Sample List of Internet Events 2009- 2010

6. Significance of online groups: Online philanthropy Online fundraising On day of the Sichuan earthquake (May 12, 2008), Tianya.cn launched online fund-raising project in partnership with 4 other major web sites and One Foundation. By noon, May 15, the project had raised RMB 24 million (USD 3.5 million) for disaster relief. Emergency civic support (e.g.,looking for missing children & donations for poor and sick) Routinized philanthropy & public welfare (e.g., poverty alleviation, rural education, legal aid, environmental protection, online volunteering)

7. Questions of interest: What are the main features of online groups? What are the functions of different organizational types? How are online groups related to the offline civic sector? What accounts for the proliferation of online groups and growth of online philanthropy?

8. II. Main features of online groups Typology Structure More structured Online orgs Smaller Bigger Size Small-N orgs Episodic groups Online networks Online communities Less structured

9. Online organization vs. online networks Online organization: Voluntary non-profit groups that operate mainly, but not exclusively, through the internet and other new media platforms. They are less institutionalized than offline social organizations, but still have a leadership structure. Online networks: Loosely connected individuals or groups anchored in online communities and social network service sites such as Twitter, with no clear leadership structure.

10. Main features in comparison with offline social organizations Offline social organizations Online groups Registered/unregistered Informally organized organizations network forms Private, separate from government Yes Non-profit-distributing Yes Self-governing Yes Voluntary Yes Regulated Not yet regulated Local Trans-local, trans-national Membership Sometimes Need financing Usually no Relatively stable Fluid

11. Strengths and weaknesses of online groups Strengths Rapid response & speedy communication cost-effective, low-risk Broad-based coordination & long-distance organizing Weaknesses More prone to uncivil discourse than offline groups (e.g. ultra-nationalist discourse) May be short-lived

12. III. Goals and functions of online groups Online groups by goal Instrumental Expressive (goods external to org.) (members’ personal satisfaction through participation) Examples: Twitter groups Online fan clubs Environmental groups Gaming communities Philanthropy groups Online magazines

13. Organizational type and issue area: Small-N organizations Have specific goals, both instrumental and expressive. E.g., Individually-run online magazines Bloggers with large followings Online organizations Have specific goals, both instrumental and expressive. Public organizations engage in politically “safe” issues. Those engaged in subversive activities are secret and private. E.g. 1kg.org

14. Episodic groups Formed in response to crises or events Independent netizen investigation team (Yueqing) Online networks Have vague and fluid goals, both instrumental and expressive E.g., Blog circles, Groups on Twitter, Google Online communities Have no clear goals other than building and maintaining community. But may be transformed into activist networks when occasions arise. Often serve as spaces for testing new ideas and values. Large-scale internet protests & emergency civic support E.g., Tianya, Sohu, Sina, Netease, QQ, Mop……

15. IV. How are online groups related to the offline sector? Serve needs not met by offline sector. Multiple linkages to offline world. May be extensions of offline groups May evolve into offline social organizations (e.g Beijing Yirenping Center) May be viewed as a component of civil society

16. V. Explaining proliferation of online groups and growth of online philanthropy 1. Government & market failure in providing justice and welfare services E.g., wide-spread online distrust of state law enforcement authorities (Yueqing case; “Eluding the cat” case)

17. 2. A weak (though still dynamic) civil society and strong desire for public voice and participation Regulations on social organizations Lack of financial support for NPOs & NGOs “our organization is too small and our influence is too limited.” (Liang Congjie, interview December 2004) “We strongly believe that the environmental awareness and participatory capacity of the general public are essential elements for the construction of a harmonious society.” (Liang Congjie 2006)

18. 3. Internet business and culture foster online participation Web sites have meticulous methods of cultivating online communities Culture and rituals of online community building (e.g. ranking system to mark blogger popularity, features that encourage interaction) Some web sites have regular sections devoted to online philanthropy (e.g., Sina & Netease)

19. 4. Importance of individual entrepreneurs Role of web site editors, managers, moderators Celebrities (Yao Chen; Han Han; Ai Weiwei) Entrepreneurial activists Online opinion leaders (bloggers)

20. 5. Strategies of negotiating control Flexible organizational forms Moderate, non-confrontational means of action Focusing on issues of general public concern Use of global resources (Twitter, Google)

21. 6. Crises and emergencies Frequency of crisis situations Pollution of rivers Poisoned baby milk formula Earthquakes & other disasters Injustices done to vulnerable persons (Deng Yujiao) Generalized social fracture and decay (Sun Liping)

22. Case studies Small-N organizations: Weekly on Civil Society & NGO Development (RYF) Online organization: 1kg.org Online networks: Twitter mobilization to save a life, Feb 2010 Online communities Tianya: Shanxi black kiln incident in 2007 Episodic organization: Yueqing & independent netizen investigation team

23. Conclusions Online groups in China are a diverse & dynamic sector. This is due to government/market failure, a weak civil society, a strong desire for civic participation, & internet culture. Informal online networks/communities are more effective in mobilizing large-scale, contentious civic action. Relatively structured online organizations are more likely to conduct routinized, less contentious civic action. Individual activists anchored in large online networks may have greater mobilizing power than regular organizations.

24. Further questions and implications How can the online civic sector contribute to the development of civil society in China? How does online civic action affect the dynamics of social change in China? How will political control and commercialization affect the dynamism of online action?