HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CHINA

Abstract

The article shares results of a philosophical and sociological analysis of the history of development of social media in China as a unique project for building a sovereign digital space alternative to the Western model. The objective of the study is to conceptualize the evolution of Chinese social networks from early BBS forums to modern super‑apps (WeChat, Douyin) and to identify how relations between the state, the market, and society have been transformed in this process. As the methodological basis, historical‑genetic and discursive analysis is used, allowing the key stages of platform development to be traced and the dominant interpretations of the phenomena of “internet sovereignty”, “managed public sphere”, and “social credit” in scholarly texts, media publications, and official documents to be reconstructed. The empirical base includes works by Chinese and foreign researchers, materials from leading media outlets, as well as analytical center reports on user practices and market dynamics of the Chinese internet. It is shown that the trajectory of the development of social media in the PRC does not represent linear technological complication but a series of paradigmatic shifts: from relative openness and the potential for civic mobilization (Weibo) to a privatized ecosystem deeply integrated into everyday life (WeChat), which promotes depoliticization and the manageability of communication. The study conceptualizes multilevel mechanisms of state control (Great Firewall, Golden Shield, content harmonization, public opinion management), functioning as elements of “ecological governance” of the information environment, as well as the digital transformation of the traditional practice of guanxi, for which WeChat becomes the key infrastructure for maintaining and expanding social networks. The conclusion argues that the Chinese model of social media forms a specific “managed public sphere”, where commercial and political logics do not oppose but mutually reinforce one another, which calls into question the universality of techno‑optimistic notions of the internet as an a priori tool of democratization and sets an important agenda for rethinking the relationship between power, technology, and culture in the digital age.