MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Along with the development of Web 2.0 since the 21st century, social media has increasingly become an important platform through which a large quantity of information is disseminated. Some renowned social media brands, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, claim billions of users. However, these popular social media apps/sites are isolated from China, the largest world market. Because they are blocked by the Chinese government, most Chinese people are not able to access these most popular social media apps/sites in the western world. Chinese people, instead, use their own social media apps/sites, such as Weibo, WeChat Moment, and Youku. However, if Chinese people are exposed to western social media apps/sites, will they select and use them, particularly since they are used to using Chinese apps/sites previously?

To better understand what factors that relate Chinese people’s selection or rejection of western and Chinese social media apps/sites, I will conduct a qualitative pilot study to examine their main motivations. I will interview Chinese students who are studying in U.S. universities regarding their social media use habits and motivations. In this study, the uses and gratification theory will be applied. During the interviews, participants will be asked several questions including their social media using habits while they lived in China, their current social media using habits in the United States, and the motivations that drive them to transfer to new apps/sites or stay in old ones. By comparing their current and previous social media using habits, and their motivations, I hope to determine the reasons that caused their social media using habits to change, through which I might explain the different roles that social media plays in daily lives in these two countries.