The concept of 'sharing' in Chinese social media: origins, transformations and implications

In this article we present an analysis of the concepts offenxiangandgongxiang -the Mandarin words for 'sharing'-in the context of Chinese social media. We do so through an interrogation of the wordsfenxiangandgongxiangas used by Chinese social media companies. Using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, we created screenshots of 32 Chinese social network sites between 2000 and 2018 and tracked changes in the usage offenxiangandgongxiangover time. The Mandarin translations in some ways operate like the English word, 'sharing'.Fenxianghas the meaning of participating in social media, andgongxiangrefers to technological aspects of sharing, while also conveying a sense of harmony. However, the interpersonal relations implied byfenxiang, and the political order implied bygongxiang, are quite different from those conveyed by 'sharing'. Together,fenxiangandgongxiangconstruct a convergence of micro-level interpersonal harmony and macro-level social harmony. Thus, the language of sharing becomes the lens through which to observe the subtlety, complexity and idiosyncrasies of the Chinese internet. This article offers a new heuristic for understanding Chinese social media, while also pointing to an important facet of the discursive construction of Chinese social media. This implies a continuing need to de-westernize research into the internet and to identify cultural-specific meanings of social media.