‘Human flesh searches’ underscore how easily Chinese netizens are swayed

A blogger at Supesite takes a dim view of today’s Chinese Internet users, but also sees some encouraging signs…

“人肉搜索”凸显中国网民易被诱导
‘Human flesh searches’ underscore how easily Chinese netizens are swayed

Presently, China has about 253 million Internet users; it is the country with the world’s largest Internet population, and of them 70% are not yet 30 years old. Despite Internet users not amounting to even 19% of the total Chinese population, Western news reporters, academics, even foreign public relation firms all pay attention to Chinese Internet forums, searching among comments and feedback on everything from contemporary politics to the stock market to corporate mergers and acquisitions.

But how much do Internet users understand these things? Do they really have profound knowledge? There are conditions under which Chinese youth go online, and it is not presumed that they have sufficient information to make important judgments and evaluations of things. Presently, there is this kind of risk: comments on Chinese forums are taken by people to be the result of independent free thinking. Actually, the condition is better stated as the opposite, Chinese Internet users are easily guided.

For example, the famous Chinese blogger Wang Xiaofeng does not encourage visitors on his blog to write comments*. Maybe Wang Xiaofeng does not want to allow his blog to be messed up, but he is very clear; visitors usually do not have anything very interesting to say. Comments on Chinese forums often only need one word, require simplicity, and very rarely can they express people’s ideas, often they are “props,” or “great.”

For a better explanation of this state of ignorance, maybe we can look at a strange phenomena to recently emerge in China: “human flesh search engines.” This [term] indicates the online stalking of people’s actual circumstances, then using speech to humiliate them, as well as the act of publishing their personal information online. In 2007, after a husband had an affair, a Beijing woman Jiang Yan jumped from a building killing herself, and left behind her blog. Her blog was quickly circulated around the Internet. For the sake of a “grievance” on her behalf, a family member created a website called “migrant bird flies north.” After reading that website’s posts, maybe Internet users would slander her husband to death. Subsequently, they found out where Jiang Yan’s husband’s family lives and other personal information, and harassed them. Following this, Jiang Yan’s husband filed a lawsuit against a few websites that republished Jiang Yan’s blog.

This kind of mob domino effect reappears on the Chinese Internet; it shows how easily Internet users are induced, as anybody can become a target.

Luckily, so far human flesh search engines have still not created serious damage. But participants’ blindness cannot be ignored or excused.

Chinese bloggers are often well-informed, so their statements are sometimes more readable. But there are many people who comment unreasonably. In China, opinions very easily tend towards extremes and verbal abuse. Most appear to be of the same opinion, but it is also possible to find many independent, carefully thought out ideas. The problem for foreign observers is that these opinions sometimes are written in Chinese; they must be translated to be understood, but exerting this kind of hard work is worth it. ❑

Translated by Jason Weinberg

*On his blog entries, Wang calls commenters “chimps.” When describing the intent of his blog, he writes, “This blog welcomes visitors, but does not recommend leaving comments; this blog’s contents just express my own viewpoint, they do not represent my unit’s or other organization’s viewpoints, please do not make careless associations; commercial websites and paper media reprints require my approval and must pay royalties. Non-commercial websites and media can freely reprint and do not have to pay royalties, but must give credit or trackbacks…” Wang Xiaofeng’s blog can be read here: http://www.wangxiaofeng.net/.

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“人肉搜索”凸显中国网民易被诱导