December 11th, 2011 by Rachel | | No Comments »
As I am tweeting up the storm on Twitter about travels and commenting on my friends’ statuses on Facebook, I realize how my life is so deeply integrated with social media. When I am on the subway heading to and from work and home, I’m on my iPhone, checking out the latest on Twitter and Facebook and posting my ramblings on there.
When I was in China and couldn’t access Facebook and Twitter, I felt so disconnected from the world. I know that I was able to go on CNN, BBC, and New York Times and contact my friends and family by e-mail while visiting in China, but social media is so different. Facebook and Twitter allow me to stay in constant touch with my family and friends, read about the latest current events, talk about my interests in traveling, share my thoughts and photographs, learn new and interesting facts and even make new friends. Social media keeps my mind stimulated throughout the day as various people constantly update their profiles.
Social media is an integral part of our lives in the US. If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd largest country in the world as there are more than 500 million users on it, but I should note that majority of the users are not from the US. 200 million tweets are sent per day. I first learned about the death of Steve Jobs, Gabrielle Giffords shooting, and earthquake in Japan through Facebook and Twitter. I also find coupons and sales from stores through Facebook and Twitter. Many of my friends send me humorous videos from YouTube to watch on regular basis. I read many fashion-related, baking-related, travel-related blogs hosted on Blogger and WordPress, blogging sites that are also blocked in China.
As I am hunting for a full time job, I have been finding myself turning to social media to search for jobs as many companies and organizations post listings on Facebook, Twitter and also LinkedIn, another major social media site in the US that focuses primarily networking for jobs. I’m also making myself known out there by informing companies and organizations that I have interests in working for them by sending tweets or messages via Facbeook.
So, what I would really like to understand is why Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are banned in China, but Chinese government allow other social media sites made by Chinese people in the country such as Renren, YouKu.com and Sina Weibo? Also, when we were discussing about social media in China, you mentioned that you never heard of Facebook until you came to London. Prior to learning about Facebook, were you aware that the Chinese government was banning sites?
While I know that you and other Chinese people are reading news about Occupy Wall Street in China, I wonder if you are aware that the Chinese government banned the keywords “Occupy Beijing,” Occupy Shanghai,” “Occupy Guangzhou” and other terms with Occupy and the Chinese cities? Is it because the government is trying to prevent the Occupy Wall Street rallies from happening in China?