Why China’s internet use has overtaken the West

Why China’s internet use has overtaken the West 9 March 2017 Share Save David Robson Features correspondent Share Save Getty Images We’ve reached a watershed moment in Chinese people’s online lives – and their innovation will lead the way for the rest of the world. Gillian Bolsover Anthropologist Tom McDonald spent time with Chinese villagers to learn how they used social media Most writing about China’s internet had explored metropolitan elites living in the country’s huge cities – and had tended to focus on the issues of censorship and government control, painting a joyless place straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. Gillian Bolsover The lives of people in rural China are being changed by lots of new technology, not just high-speed internet Notwithstanding a few crossed-wires – some of the locals believed that he was an IT expert, and would often ask him for help with their technical issues – McDonald found that Anshan’s residents were more than happy to help with his research on their internet use. “There’s this kind of vernacular creativity that is really astounding.” All of which helped to show that Chinese internet use is far more varied and colourful than many had appreciated – a thesis that McDonald recently presented in his book.