Title

Connecting Alumni around the World: A Study of Harmony, Memory, and Identity Online.

Authors

Zhang, Mei

Abstract

Despite an increasing interest in studies of Chinese media from a communication perspective in recent years, little research has been conducted on computer-mediated Chinese discourse. This study analyzes the online message exchanges among alunmi of a major comprehensive university in Eastern China and argues that the virtual community serves as a space for maintenance of harmony, revelation of identities, articulation of nostalgia, and reiteration of values. The alumni's group identity, personal identity, family identity, and national identity all point to the important role of cyberspace in constructing a harmonious community, collective memory, and cultural values that were intertwined with their multiple identities and in providing new interaction opportunities that were made possible by the new media technologies.

Subjects

HARMONY (Philosophy); IDENTITY (Philosophical concept); MEMORY; VALUES (Ethics); CYBERSPACE; VIRTUAL communities

Publication

China Media Research, 2008, Vol 4, Issue 4, p85

ISSN

1556-889X

Publication type

Academic Journal