Three Social-Mediated Publics in Digital Activism: A Network Perspective of Social Media Public Segmentation

Abstract

This study provides a network perspective to segment social-mediated publics in digital activism based on social media users’ influence on the information dissemination process. We used social network analysis to segment publics based on their information sharing behaviors in the case of the Chinese #MeToo movement in 2018 on Sina Weibo. Besides, we conducted a content analysis to reveal the characteristics of each type of publics. We have identified three meaningful social-mediated publics in the Chinese #MeToo movement on Sina Weibo: (1) the provoking public, who plays an essential role in initiating the discussion; (2) the bridging public, which contributes to spreading the discussion to various groups of people; and (3) the powerful public, who has the advantages of the first two segments of publics and is the most powerful one in the formation and development of the online discussion. Three publics have different characteristics. The provoking public (e.g., media and internet celebrities) typically has many followers and is interested in various social issues. The bridging public has fewer followers (e.g., grassroots individuals) but tends to have a special interest in the issue and actively uses social media. The powerful public has a large number of followers, a particular interest in this issue, and is active on social media. This public segmentation provides a relatively new perspective to understand publics in digital activism in societies with strict social norms and media censorship. Limitations and future research are discussed.