Keyword: internet

Video: 'Internet is the Answer' Declares Ai Weiwei in Newly Launched Blog

In the first video posted on his new blog, Ai Weiwei speaks on the role of digital media in today's China. (YouTube)
Arts

The indefatigable artist and activist's first post is a video in which he argues for the role of the internet in establishing a civil society under authoritarian rule.

An Absent Presence: How China's Netizens Commemorated an Important Anniversary

 A particularly empty image of Beijing's Chang'an Avenue. (Sina Weibo)
Lifestyle

Popular social media websites like Sina Weibo have become the frontline of a virtual showdown between censors and aggrieved netizens every June 4 in China, writes Sun Yunfan.

Karl Marx and China's Big Chill 2.0

This statue of Karl Marx (L) and Friedrich Engels graces Shanghai's Fuxing Park. (Hennie Schaper/Flickr)
Policy

As China embarks on another internet crackdown in the name of maintaining stability, Jeffrey Wasserstrom calls into question the predictive powers of Karl Marx.

Review: Harvard's Online China Lectures a 'Useful' Overview

A slide from the introductory lecture in Harvard University's online series
Education

A new Harvard online lecture series is lauded as an an "exceptionally useful tool" for anyone needing an intro to Chinese civilization.

2011: The Year of Social Media in Pakistan

A Pakistani man browses the internet in a net cafe in Karachi on May 31, 2010. (Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images)
Lifestyle

Social media has been the single most important platform for the silent Pakistani majority to share its rejection of terrorism, writes Ayesha Haroon.

2011: Hu Yong Looks Back on the Year in Chinese Media (New and Old)

Hu Yong is one of China's leading experts on new media.
Policy The only useful outlet for the expression of popular concerns in China is the internet, says new media expert Hu Yong.

Google Reader Redesign Unpopular in China

(Mike Licht/Flickr)
Lifestyle

Earlier this week Google unveiled the newest version of Google Reader, its long-neglected RSS service. Though most of the changes are cosmetic — Google has embraced a gray, minimalist aesthetic of late — the removal of Reader's social functions has led to a fair amount of grumbling among the service's users.

Crowdsourcing to Save a South Asian Tech Entrepreneur's Life

Amit Gupta, co-founder Photojojo and Jelly. (Amit Gupta)
Lifestyle

Social media is great. Not only can you harness its power to start revolutions and circulate videos of furry animals doing cute things — you can help save someone's life. About three weeks ago, San Francisco-based Photojojo and Jelly co-founder Amit Gupta was diagnosed with acute leukemia. The 32-year-old entrepreneur is currently undergoing treatment, and the next step for him is a bone-marrow transplant.

Mark Twain, William Shakespeare and Jiang Zemin

An elderly man looks at portraits of former Chinese communist leaders (L to R) Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and current president Hu Jintao in Ditan Park in Beijing on June 28, 2011. (Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)
Policy

As my friends know, it doesn’t take much to make me think of Mark Twain. And even people I’ve never met who have followed my writings on China know about my obsession with Twain, since I’ve managed to bring him into discussions of a wide range of China-related topics, from Shanghai history (he never went there but has a San Francisco-bound fictional character set sail from that treaty port) to the Boxers (with whose cause he expressed sympathy in 1900). So, it’s no surprise that, when rumors about Jiang Zemin’s death flew and then were squashed earlier this week, I found myself thinking of Twain.

Video: Behind China's Great Firewall, Subversive Content in Cartoon Form

An image from
Arts

China media and advertising expert Jeremy Goldkorn talks about the latest controversial animation to pop up on the Chinese internet.