We are a group of researchers who are interested in the impact of communication technologies on contemporary Chinese society.
Online communities support the well-being of their members by encouraging their social identity formation. In the context of an online community, online activism in the form of identity struggles can be particularly helpful for marginalized individuals or groups. Since May 2020, students from the 985 universities, an elite educational project in China, have been coming to an online community named “The Inviting Plan for 985 Fives” on Douban, an interest-based Social Network Site (SNS), to discuss their failure and dissatisfaction in life. Students who were once recognized for their academic excellence now identify as “fives” (or “garbage”). The present study examines how the Douban group, as a social network and collaborative system, supports the group members in their identity struggles in the context of increasingly fierce peer competition in China. We employ a qualitative approach, combining ethnographic methods such as participant observation and semi-structured interviews, with in-depth analysis of the top discussion threads. We discover that while peer competition and social stratification in contemporary China cause students at the top universities to feel anxious and lost, the online community they build collectively supports them to create a new social identity, the identity of “five,” which is the basis of their online activism. Through this new identity, they seek unofficial democracy, civic participation, and possibilities of social change.
This project has been accepted to The 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work And Social Computing (CSCW), 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/1145/3610070
We are: GUO Jingyi, JI Ran, KUKSENOK Kit, LEI Qinyuan, LI Jiaxun, TANG Ran
Affiliated Organization: School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Our study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) on March 11, 2021, and the Reference No. is SBRE-20-571. You can view the consent form here: Consent Form 985 Fives 25.03.2021.pdf
This study explores the intersection of feminist counterpublics and content moderation practices. It adopts qualitative methods to examine the work of volunteer moderators in online women-only communities on Douban, one of the most popular social media sites in China. Female users have built groups for women in a specific profession to exchange information and seek support; others are for women to discuss hobbies such as gaming and literary writing. By investigating the daily work of volunteer moderators in these groups, the paper argues that the moderators in the women-only communities have managed to provide their members with valuable feminist counterpublics. Through sharing personal experience and discussing seemingly banal topics, the moderators have created a space where group members can engage in everyday politics by participating in counternarratives to address gender inequalities prevalent in society.
This project has been accepted to the 73rd Annual International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, 2023.
We are: GUO Jingyi, HO Jolin Hiu-man, LEI Qinyuan, TANG Ran, TANG Zilu
Affiliated Organization: School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology
Our study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) on November 28, 2022, and the Reference No. is 2022GPES236. You can view the consent form here: moderators consent form.docx
Otome games (also known as romantic video games, or RVGs) are story-based video games that are designed for young women, simulating the experience of a romantic relationship. Players are invited to adopt the female avatar’s perspective in the story and date one or more of the male characters. Our empirical study focuses on the different types of social support among the players of the Chinese otome game Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice. We discovered that although the game was initially designed to be a consumer product aiming to profit from a largely marginalized and stigmatized group of gamers, i.e., young female gamers, the game has created a gaming community in which the players seek and provide each other with social support. We primarily use ethnographic methods, including participant observation and in-depth interviews. Our study contributes to HCI research on mediated social support in game.
This project has been accepted to CHI (2024)
We are: GUO Jingyi, HO Jolin Hiu-man, LEI Qinyuan, TANG Ran, TANG Zilu, ZHOU Han
Affiliated Organization: School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong
Our study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) on December 29, 2022, and the Reference No. is 2022GPES255. You can view the consent form here: Otome games consent form.docx
If you have any further questions regarding our research project, please contact our supervisor: Dr. Qinyuan Lei: qinyulei at cityu dot edu dot hk
Last updated: March 24, 2024