Adopting microblogging solutions for interaction with government: survey results from Hunan province, China

Abstract

Authorities in the People’s Republic of China communicate with citizens using an estimated six hundred thousand Sina Weibo microblogs. This study reports on a study of Chinese citizens’ adoption of microblogs to interact with government. Adoption results from trust and peer pressure in smaller-network ties (densely knit, pervasive social networks surrounding individual citizens). Larger-network ties (trust in institutions-at-large, such as the Chinese Communist Party, executive organizations, the judicial system, media, et cetera) are not associated with adoption of microblogging. Furthermore, higher levels of anxiety are correlated with lower levels of use intentions, and this finding underlines the impact of the Chinese authority’s surveillance and control activities on the lives of individual Chinese citizens. Based in these findings, we outline a theory of why citizens use microblogs to interact with government and suggest avenues for further research into microblogs, state-citizens communication patterns and technology adoption.