Abstract
With the popularity of the Internet and the rapid increase in the number of netizens, many scholars have conducted multi-method and multi-angle research on the link between Internet and identity. However, existing research mostly focuses on the impact of the Internet as a whole on interpersonal communication and social identity. Compared to the identity of ethnicity, nation, and youth, research on the Internet and identity of a particular class is rare. In today’s China, whether on general public’s social media or elite-oriented professional network platforms, the well-educated with relatively stable work and income, who are called the middle class, have become the main force of the Chinese network society. The middle class in today’s China is an emerging class that was born after 2000. It can be said that this class developed along with the Internet. In the above academic background and social context, this study focused on the middle class in today’s China. Through a statistical analysis of 497 samples, semi-structured interviews of 50 middle-class respondents, and the non-participation observation on two popular social media, this study examines how the Chinese middle class uses the Internet and how to construct the self-identity and group identity of a social class by using the Internet. The findings of this study provide a new direction for class research, to rethink the formation of class identity in the present era and provide a new supplement to media studies to explore the relationship between media utilization and identity construction.
Presenters
Abigail Qian ZhouAssociate Professor, Graduate School of International Media, Communication and Tourism Studies, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
INTERNET, CLASS IDENTITY, CONSTRUCTION, MIDDLE CLASS, CHINA
Digital Media
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