User behavior and the impact of the internet: A study on Chinese net users in Beijing and Shanghai

Abstract

AbstractUsing Habermasa??s theory of the public sphere as the theoretical framework, this paper aims to explore whether the Internet provides a public sphere in China which is an issue central to democracy. Four specific research questions reflecting different dimensions of the public sphere are raised in this paper and explored by a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Based on the results from a survey on about 500 university students and individual in-depth interviews to 20 respondents from diverse backgrounds in China, the paper is trying to answer the question whether the Internet provides a public sphere in China. This research is significant in that it is based on empirical research from a user-centered perspective which is different from most previous research.