DUALISTIC DISCOURSE UNIVERSES IN CHINA.

This study compares two participatory behaviors, online opinion expression and official channel opinion expression in China by relating them to media use habits and mediating factors such as perceived opinion support and personal issue stance. Findings from a telephone survey in Shanghai suggest that the opinion expression processes occurring in the two discursive universes in China - official and nonofficial - are distinctive. Opinion expression through governmental channels is conceptually grouped with pro-Party opinion and traditional news media consumption, while online opinion expression is associated with perceived opinion support and informational internet use. Furthermore, we find negative relationships between internet use and pro-Party opinion and between perceived opinion support and opinion expression via official channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]