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The wild world of weibo needs some shackling
By Ni Tao |
July 15, 2013, Monday
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Print Edition
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CYBERSPACE in China has been a frontline in the battle against sleaze and injustice. Weibo is a potent weapon, having helped bring down numerous corrupt officials and individuals.
But it is at times a gigantic rumor mill, spreading falsehoods, lies and absurdities. Recently, a weibo entry that went viral claimed a rural student had scored 565 points in the national college entrance exam, enough to qualify her for admission to university.
However, the student, Li Mengmeng, a native of Kaifeng City, Henan Province, can't make it to university because local admission authorities failed to submit her application letter in time to her prospective school, the post said.
Within a short period of time, this post was tweeted 120,000 times, with many weibo users excoriating the "feckless" education authority for shattering a rural girl's hope of attending college. It was later revealed that the post referred to something that happened in 2010 and Li was enrolled in college that September.
When interviewed about the online outcry over her fate, Li expressed hope that "cyberspace stops being so ridiculous." Every time the post got tweeted, it touched her raw nerve, China Youth Daily quoted one of Li's classmates as saying on July 10.
The incident is the latest sign that weibo needs a filter for its content. It's unclear who started the rumor and what his or her purpose was in digging up an old news item, rewording it and presenting it anew. But it might be intended more at making fun of weibo users than lashing out at education injustice.
Surprisingly, many took the bait without seeming to think they might be responding to a very old story. True, a scandal three years ago may have eluded the memory of most people, but the spontaneous mass relay of an old canard is evidently humiliating for weibo's trustworthiness as a news generator.
Behind the facade of rallying behind a victim of official carelessness and mishandling, there is something pathetic about the rabid collective support shown with an indiscreet click of the mouse.
United in their fury at education inequality, the duped online community, in their eagerness for rants, didn't bother pausing for a second to ascertain the source on the weibo entry, or at least read the original story.
Bad news travels fast, and in China's cyberspace, details of news can be cast aside, as long as it's bad. China Youth Daily noted that weibo is plagued by "bad news syndrome." Negative stories, like officials' sex escapades, attract attention, while positive news quickly gets forgotten.
This perception is backed by a survey. AC Nielsen issued a report in 2010 indicating that in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese consumers are most fond of publishing negative reviews of products online. About 62 percent of the polled Chinese said they were poised to share bad reviews, as opposed to 41 percent found among global respondents.
Today the "bad news syndrome" clearly has spilled over into any discussions via social networking programs, well beyond those pertinent to product quality.
In some ways it is a good development, showing there is appreciably more tolerance of ideas, criticisms and diverse voices than during, say, the so-called cultural revolution (1966-1976).
But what if those criticisms are aired by an unthinking mob, who are unable to critically and rationally analyze what they jump to conclusions about? Such criticisms can't be constructive.
The weibo furor mentioned at the outset is reminiscent of the official practices of inflating crop yield figures to fantasy levels and reporting them through the official hierarchy to the top leadership during the Great Leap Forward (1958). Nobody uttered any misgivings about the figures, all seemingly convinced of a bumper harvest. The results were a devastating famine.
A few months ago, China launched a high-profile fight against web rumors deemed damaging to public order. Considering the extent of rumor-mongering in cyberspace - some driven by ulterior motives, some by delusions of impunity - the campaign's objective is justified.
While weibo users have advanced the cases of some underdogs, whose plights otherwise could have never come to light, the emphasis now should be on repression of the urge to mindlessly forward messages of a dubious source and disruptive nature.
But it is at times a gigantic rumor mill, spreading falsehoods, lies and absurdities. Recently, a weibo entry that went viral claimed a rural student had scored 565 points in the national college entrance exam, enough to qualify her for admission to university.
However, the student, Li Mengmeng, a native of Kaifeng City, Henan Province, can't make it to university because local admission authorities failed to submit her application letter in time to her prospective school, the post said.
Within a short period of time, this post was tweeted 120,000 times, with many weibo users excoriating the "feckless" education authority for shattering a rural girl's hope of attending college. It was later revealed that the post referred to something that happened in 2010 and Li was enrolled in college that September.
When interviewed about the online outcry over her fate, Li expressed hope that "cyberspace stops being so ridiculous." Every time the post got tweeted, it touched her raw nerve, China Youth Daily quoted one of Li's classmates as saying on July 10.
The incident is the latest sign that weibo needs a filter for its content. It's unclear who started the rumor and what his or her purpose was in digging up an old news item, rewording it and presenting it anew. But it might be intended more at making fun of weibo users than lashing out at education injustice.
Surprisingly, many took the bait without seeming to think they might be responding to a very old story. True, a scandal three years ago may have eluded the memory of most people, but the spontaneous mass relay of an old canard is evidently humiliating for weibo's trustworthiness as a news generator.
Behind the facade of rallying behind a victim of official carelessness and mishandling, there is something pathetic about the rabid collective support shown with an indiscreet click of the mouse.
United in their fury at education inequality, the duped online community, in their eagerness for rants, didn't bother pausing for a second to ascertain the source on the weibo entry, or at least read the original story.
Bad news travels fast, and in China's cyberspace, details of news can be cast aside, as long as it's bad. China Youth Daily noted that weibo is plagued by "bad news syndrome." Negative stories, like officials' sex escapades, attract attention, while positive news quickly gets forgotten.
This perception is backed by a survey. AC Nielsen issued a report in 2010 indicating that in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese consumers are most fond of publishing negative reviews of products online. About 62 percent of the polled Chinese said they were poised to share bad reviews, as opposed to 41 percent found among global respondents.
Today the "bad news syndrome" clearly has spilled over into any discussions via social networking programs, well beyond those pertinent to product quality.
In some ways it is a good development, showing there is appreciably more tolerance of ideas, criticisms and diverse voices than during, say, the so-called cultural revolution (1966-1976).
But what if those criticisms are aired by an unthinking mob, who are unable to critically and rationally analyze what they jump to conclusions about? Such criticisms can't be constructive.
The weibo furor mentioned at the outset is reminiscent of the official practices of inflating crop yield figures to fantasy levels and reporting them through the official hierarchy to the top leadership during the Great Leap Forward (1958). Nobody uttered any misgivings about the figures, all seemingly convinced of a bumper harvest. The results were a devastating famine.
A few months ago, China launched a high-profile fight against web rumors deemed damaging to public order. Considering the extent of rumor-mongering in cyberspace - some driven by ulterior motives, some by delusions of impunity - the campaign's objective is justified.
While weibo users have advanced the cases of some underdogs, whose plights otherwise could have never come to light, the emphasis now should be on repression of the urge to mindlessly forward messages of a dubious source and disruptive nature.
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