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Unlike previous studies analyzing the effect of being exposed to satire, this study adopts a meta-discursive approach to explore the generic features of Chinese satire and the underlying motives and reference frames behind satire use. Drawing on the satire scripts collected from 33 stand-up comedians, I integrated computer-aided topic modeling, discursive historical analysis, and semi-structured interviews to examine how the satirical target is constructed as well as the rationales behind the uses of satire. My findings suggest that most of the Chinese satire analyzed is related to micropolitics in personal social circles, such as gender norms, parent-child relationships, and employment conflicts. These satirical thoughts originate from the satirist's aversion to inconsistency between words and actions, the release of past trauma, and the performative presentation of morality. I further argue that these reference frames consistently manifest an adaptive agency that satirists simultaneously adapt to the rules while also reestablishing norms in an unconventional way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon the theories of nested identity and optimal distinctiveness, this study examines the identity structure of Hong Kong Twitter users as reflected in their tweets and how their structure changed over time during the Anti-Extradition Movement. By employing semantic network analysis and discursive historical analysis, we found that the identity structure expressed by Hong Kong Twitter users manifested a composite mesh of a sense of victimization, democratic values, sense of autonomy, and sense of helplessness. Moreover, the way Hong Kong Twitter users distinguished themselves from others was hybrid and miscible, justified by an affirmation for morality. The identity expression changed its emphasis regarding different identity concepts as the movement evolved. Implications on how social movement impacts identity politics, and vice versa, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to existing literature analyzing how public spaces are strategic mobilization resources for activists, we focus on the inconspicuous constraints placed by the state on public spaces that limit their utility as mobilization resources. Employing the spatial dimensions of social movement theory and Althusser's state power theory analyze an activism case in Guangzhou, China, we argue that through everyday spatial governance by the state, public spaces in China are also forms of ideological state apparatuses that latently disrupt activists' attempts to engage in contentious spatial practices to gain resources through media coverage. We further propose the concept of 'spatial inertia', which are durable, routine, and diversified spatial meaning-making practices mediated through media coverage that affect the success of social movements. This paper complements social movement scholarship by examining how the state, through latent processes exercised using public spaces as ideological state apparatuses, competes with and subverts activists' efforts to use these spaces as strategic resources for collective mobilization, especially in authoritarian contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparency of Chinese media coverage became an international controversy when the COVID-19 outbreak initially emerged in Wuhan, the eventual crisis epicenter in China. Unlike studies characterizing mass media in authoritarian contexts as government mouthpieces during a crisis, this study aims to disaggregate Chinese media practices to uncover differences in when, where, and how the severity of COVID-19 was reported. We examine differences in how media institutions reported the severity of the COVID-19 epidemic in China during the pre-crisis period from 1 January 2020 to 20 January 2020 in terms of both the "vertical" or hierarchical positions of media institutions in the Chinese media ecosystem and the "horizontal" positions of media institutions' social proximity to Wuhan in terms of geographical human traffic flows. We find that the coverage of crisis severity is negatively associated with the media's social proximity to Wuhan, but the effect varies depending on the positional prominence of a news article and situation severity. Implications of the institutions' differentiated reporting strategies on future public health reporting in an authoritarian context are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the algorithmic imaginations and related practices of China's independent content providers by situating them in the interaction network in relation to other actors, including algorithms, platforms, peers, and legacy media professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 informants who were experienced in traffic media, which are new media platforms that rely on traffic as their business model and control traffic through algorithmic technologies and policies. Through contrasting independent content creators to legacy media professionals and platform employees, the analysis showed that the content providers shared the normative expectation that algorithms should direct traffic based on their content although they were usually surprised or disappointed. They considered that the function of algorithms was a classifying and disciplining mechanism that exerted power through the distribution of traffic. They chose to "play with" or "please" algorithms by using individual or collective tactics. The relationships between their imaginations and their agency, as well as the fundamental limitations imposed by the Chinese state, are also discussed. An era of traffic media is argued to have emerged, and the network of power relations has evolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike previous research that concentrated on mobile payment's attributes in influencing user adoption decisions, this study focuses on the cultural norms and social environments in which mobile payments are conducted. This study aims to clarify the sociocultural influences of mobile payment systems based on in-depth interviews and participant observations in the Machong town market in China. In the analysis of substantive and instrumental perspectives on the influence of technology, this study found that the entrenched cultural practice of bargaining in China has been disrupted by the widespread adoption of mobile payment technology and supplanted by the new cultural practice of technical sharing, which is becoming increasingly entrenched in the continuing adoption of technology. The findings of this study suggest that technological and commercial logics have powerful reductionist effects on the imagination in technology use and design. To overcome these effects, we propose a co-exploration paradigm for use in the future development of mobile payment technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much research stereotypes mass media in authoritarian contexts as mouthpieces of the ruling party, we argue that successful social media–driven activism also requires the support of mass media, even in authoritarian contexts. To investigate the roles of social media and mass media on collective mobilization, we analyzed a case in Guangzhou, China, and conducted in-depth interviews to conceptualize the interconnected relationship between social media and mass media from the perspective of resource mobilization. Findings reveal that social media facilitated the mobilization of participants by providing less fungible and timely resources at the initial stages of collective action. However, it is the more fungible and enduring resources provided by the mass media that sustain the intensity of external pressures to the government. The complementarity between social and mass media in atomized collective action in China is in essence the configuration between exclusive and monopolized resources mediated by a middle-ground discursive mode—"implied truth." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation takes time in both synchronous and asynchronous communication. To encourage participation, most scholars suggested strategies to change participants' motivation to adjust the way how they distribute their time resources. We, instead, view time as an evolving environment with specific temporal norms. This study employed a multi-level event history model to explore what factors affect response behaviors in an online policy discussion forum. By proposing four time-constant individual post factors and four time-varying environment factors, and analyzing 1798 posts in the forum, the study found that both individual post and environment factors are significant predictors of online interactions in different time phases. Some interaction effects between individual post and environment factors were also found. Rather than merely focusing on participants' resource to take part in online discussions, we suggest that future studies should examine how contextual constraints that change over time can influence response behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]