Here are the four questions that I asked all my three interviewees:
1. What social media websites do you use?
2. Which ones do you use more often?
3. Do you use Facebook when you're in China?
4. What do you think of China's Internet censorship?
1. What social media websites do you use?
2. Which ones do you use more often?
3. Do you use Facebook when you're in China?
4. What do you think of China's Internet censorship?
"A large number of websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all blocked in China- something my foreign friends in China have been complaining about all the time. There’s actually a long list of the webistes that have been censored. Some of these websites had already been blocked ever since I started using the Internet. Thus, I’ve never had access to them until I have a VPN or a proxy -- something people use to bypass the Great Firewall. Not only are these social media websites blocked, but search engines such as Google or Yahoo are also ridiculously blocked.
Just a few weeks ago, a social movement called "The Umbrella Revolution" took place in Hong Kong. People were posting pictures and using hashtags on Instagram to raise public awareness of the activism. As a result of that, Instagram was immediately censored by China's Great Firewall. Unlike the other websites, we first had access to Instagram but it was just censored after the campaign.
As a result of the censorship, we actually have a few Chinese equivalents of these websites, such as Renren instead of Facebook, Weibo instead of Twitter and Baidu instead of Google. Most Chinese people have never used the American social media because all their friends use the Chinese ones. There's simply no need to purchase a VPN to access Facebook. Therefore, I'm curious about how the Chinese international students here at Emory use both websites and their opinions about the Great Firewall."
Just a few weeks ago, a social movement called "The Umbrella Revolution" took place in Hong Kong. People were posting pictures and using hashtags on Instagram to raise public awareness of the activism. As a result of that, Instagram was immediately censored by China's Great Firewall. Unlike the other websites, we first had access to Instagram but it was just censored after the campaign.
As a result of the censorship, we actually have a few Chinese equivalents of these websites, such as Renren instead of Facebook, Weibo instead of Twitter and Baidu instead of Google. Most Chinese people have never used the American social media because all their friends use the Chinese ones. There's simply no need to purchase a VPN to access Facebook. Therefore, I'm curious about how the Chinese international students here at Emory use both websites and their opinions about the Great Firewall."
This is my documentary on the Chinese international students at Emory and their opinions on China's Internet censorship. I personally don't think China would stop censoring the Net in a short time and some people are very concerned that the younger generation might not know things like Google at all. Before I finished the interviews, I expected my interviewees to be talking about the negative side of the censorship, but interestingly, they all mentioned the positive aspect. Hope you enjoyed watching this video. Bye~