ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that cyberspace contributed to the rise of Taiwanese identity. Cyberspace is free from government control in Taiwan, thus giving Internet users the freedom to express their national identity in this virtual community. In the early 1990s, the bulletin board system (BBS) was popular among Taiwan’s academic Internet network and many Taiwan-identity Internet users used BBS to develop Taiwan identity. Since the early 2000s, the World Wide Web has become mainstream for Taiwan’s Internet users. Cyberspace thus enabled Taiwan-identity Internet users to express strongly held political views. However, Taiwan-identity Internet users provided a more solid and consistent discourse on Taiwanese identity in the 1990s than in the age of websites in the 2000s. Since the early 2010s, social media, such as Facebook, has risen to play a crucial role in Taiwanese people’s daily lives and to impact strongly Taiwan’s politics.
