Co-Opting the Cult of Hu and Wen
From President Hu Jintao's historic online chat, to Premier Wen Jiabao's Facebook page, China's leaders have been enjoying a strong showing of popular support online this year.
Recently, devotees of the two have given themselves punning nicknames that play on the leaders' names as well as the Mandarin word for rice (it sounds like the English word 'fan,' as in fanatic).
Now the Web site of People's Daily, the self-proclaimed Communist Party mouthpiece, is getting in on the love for the leadership by launching an official fan site for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, interestingly named after the nicknames bestowed by netizens: 'Assorted Eight Treasures Fans Group.' (That brings to mind another pun– 'fan group' sounds like 'fantuan' in Mandarin– yet another rice-based treat).
The People's Daily site features photos of Hu and Wen among the people, a regular stream of news about their meetings with other world leaders and adoring messages from their supporters. Those who sign up on the site can add their posts and send congratulatory messages directly to the leaders. They also receive e-certificates acknowledging registration– over 60,000 joined on the first four days of the site's operation.
Of course, as some observers note, a state-run Web site is hardly the place to find spirited debate on Chinese politicians, so the social networking potential isn't quite fully realized. But does this mark another sign of responsiveness from state leaders, a crafty co-opting act, or a bit of both?
Sky Canaves
Recently, devotees of the two have given themselves punning nicknames that play on the leaders' names as well as the Mandarin word for rice (it sounds like the English word 'fan,' as in fanatic).
Now the Web site of People's Daily, the self-proclaimed Communist Party mouthpiece, is getting in on the love for the leadership by launching an official fan site for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, interestingly named after the nicknames bestowed by netizens: 'Assorted Eight Treasures Fans Group.' (That brings to mind another pun– 'fan group' sounds like 'fantuan' in Mandarin– yet another rice-based treat).
The People's Daily site features photos of Hu and Wen among the people, a regular stream of news about their meetings with other world leaders and adoring messages from their supporters. Those who sign up on the site can add their posts and send congratulatory messages directly to the leaders. They also receive e-certificates acknowledging registration– over 60,000 joined on the first four days of the site's operation.
Of course, as some observers note, a state-run Web site is hardly the place to find spirited debate on Chinese politicians, so the social networking potential isn't quite fully realized. But does this mark another sign of responsiveness from state leaders, a crafty co-opting act, or a bit of both?
Sky Canaves
assorted Show phonetics
adjective
consisting of various types mixed together:
a case of assorted wines
人民網推出“什錦八寶FANS圈”
從
國家主席胡錦濤同網友歷史性的在線交流﹐到國務院總理溫家寶的Facebook主頁﹐可以看到﹐中國領導人今年在互聯網上獲得了大眾的普遍支持。最近﹐兩位領導人的支持者巧妙地把二人的名字和中文諧音結合起來、給自己起了一個昵稱──“什錦八寶飯”。
日前﹐共產黨黨報、自稱共產黨“喉舌”的《人民日報》旗下的“人民網”也加入這個行列﹐推出了胡錦濤和溫家寶的官方粉絲網站﹐名字借用了網民們的創意﹐叫“什錦八寶FANS圈”。
人民網的這個頁面上登載了胡錦濤和溫家寶在群眾中考察時的照片、會見世界其他領導人的新聞以及支持者的熱情回貼。註冊用戶可以發貼並把祝賀的信息直接發給兩位領導人。他們還會收到註冊成功的電子認證﹐該網站開通四天以來已經有6萬多人註冊。
當然﹐正如一些觀察人士指出的﹐在一家官方網站上﹐你很難找到有關中國政治家的熱烈討論﹐所以其作為社交網絡的潛力並沒有完全發揮出來。不過﹐這是否再次顯示了國家領導人對大眾的回應﹐或是一種巧妙的拉攏人心之舉﹐亦或兩者兼而有之﹖
Sky Canaves
沒有留言:
張貼留言