ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book concerns Chinese social media and the public and looks at Chinese social media and disability. It argues that social media is merely a continued extension of the development of the internet and how it is used. The book explores how "Chinese grassroots non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have taken a non-profit public approach to social media by tactfully utilising these new alternative outlets to promote their specific activism goals". It explains how NGOs are using social media in collective actions for resource mobilisations and self-legitimacy construction. The book also explores how the bottom up civil discourse from social media challenges the top down approach by more traditional state-controlled media. It discusses how one of the earliest social media platforms is still used and relevant in Taiwan today and considers its role in forging a Taiwanese identity through language.
