Q: What do you think about the difference between the theories of collective action in the context of virtual communities?
WZ: No words in one definition of conceptualization refer to agency or consciousness – so that what we normally understand about collective action is that it is about achieving some sort of collective end. So Weiyu points to an idea of “collective intelligent design,” and how SNS can have mechanisms that suggest relevant content users.
Q: For Weiyu: One could argue that all social networks are about relationships. Lam: where did you do your fieldwork and what were your implements?
WZ: This is true; no matter what it is still going to be a relationship between users; perhaps a clearer definition is “people-oriented,” but users who are connected by interest really do report their connection based on interest rather than relationship.
SL: I mainly used in-depth face-to-face interviews and Internet chat, but I would say I prefer face-to-face interviews. I interviewed mainly in local Chinese who have studied in Hong Kong, Russia, and China.
Q: Why do you choose the terms “diaspora” or “translocal”?
JL: We tried to distinguish between cultures, for example based on how long they might have moved overseas.
SL: Translocal is a critical component in the modernization of China. His own personal experience shows how much more connected Chinese singletons studying abroad were in using advanced technologies to communicate with their families back home.
Q: The progression from civil to civic to political engagement. Coming from a background in censorship and blocking, have you seen efforts to block civil relationships that might lead to political engagement later on?
WZ: Most definitely. The government asked the Douban web site to “clean up” its group, whereupon certain groups were forced to close. To form a group now, one must submit an application and be screened. These types of web sites can therefore not successfully challenge the state right now, because web site operators are still subject to state control.
A final comment from Jack Qiu – it’s important to think about important lessons from China. We may take China too seriously; perhaps we should sit back and think about China, with all its complexities, as another test tube–a dirty test tube, in fact, just as other countries and country events (elections in India) are dirty test tubes. These results and patterns are generalizable.