Digital capital and social elites in China
Creators: name: Zhang, Yu
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2016

description: Digital communication in China has seen huge development over the past decades, and promised great potential in networking and mobilizing various social groups, and even bringing along social and political changes. Interestingly, as a highly visible social force in the digital era, elites are oftentimes invisible in literature, or haven’t been paid as much attention as they deserve. This research works to make this up by examining how elites construct, transform, and mobilize their identities both online and offline. The discussion is framed around classic social capital theories, which emphasize the importance of norms, resources, and network in the social structure. In order to better serve my discussion on digital communication, I propose the term “digital capital,” which is a resource generated by symbolic exchange in the digital network, and can possibly be converted into economic, social, and cultural capital both online and offline, to refer to the digital representation of social capital. The microblogging service sina weibo is the main site formy case study research. By analyzing the most popular online campaign, online legends, and online popular talks over the past few years in China, I argue that social elite exists in the social hierarchy as a fluid continuum that connects with and permeates into higher and lower levels by going beyond others’ expectations and extending its ability to mobilize withinthe huge network around it. According to Lin (2001), higher initial statuses, higher level of education, and stronger extensity of ties, all add to one’s ability to accumulate network resources. And more network resources to use, a wider radius of trust within the network, and better ability to mobilize around different identities as a responsible social being are key requirements for someone to become elite. Interestingly, the Internet has created a better chance for ordinary people to cross the boundary and get close to, or even enter, the elite circle. A good amount of clicks online can easily build up a huge network for an ordinary person to gain more access to social resources and more ability to mobilize around different social groups. Only if the grassroots power is able to construct overarching identities in the society and comply with the rules or expectations the public has set for him/her, can the society witness a boundary-crossing moment taking place. Therefore, top-down agenda and bottom-up force will collaborate within the social structure to initiate collective agency. Many cases have evidenced that, besides the nature of connecting similar people to generate more bonding digital capital within the network, the Internet has also boosted the network’s capability in bridging different social identities for collective actions with instrumental purposes. But these single cases do not really indicate a more democratic society in China. Social elites, though oftentimes regarded as resources for ordinary people to retrieve more information, are indeed more of a regulation for Chinese citizens in terms of exerting subtle influence on how they think and speak. In this sense, I argue, what digital communication has brought to Chinese society is networked citizenship, where Chinese citizens are still being passively included in a huge network, only in the name of empowerment.