Populism, Political Participation and Public Sphere on Chinese Internet: /AC as an Example

This paper provides a close look at the formation of the public sphere on the Chinese Internet by investigating the history of /AC, a sub-forum in Tieba, a Chinese social media. By going over the transformation process of /AC and analyzing the concepts of populism that emerged in /AC, the paper tries to provide some ideas of how the public sphere grow in the Chinese Internet under the influence of the government. Users of Chinese Internet forums may unconsciously transform their discussion groups into a public sphere when they argue about topics related to politics. This paper also gives a simple picture of Chinese netizens' version of populism built by their unconscious political participation and their motivations for it.