The collective power and influence of the Chinese netizenry is an endless source of fascination for me. Without many avenues for collective action in offline life, Chinese often turn to digital platforms (Internet, mobile, etc.) to drive outcomes regarding everything from social change and consumer rights to voting for the next "super girl" champion, etc. However, as most who follow the Chinese Internet know all to well, there is a dark, reactionary (sometimes irrational) side to Chinese "digital collectiveness," especially when big foreign brands and anything that can be interpreted as dishonesty or offensiveness enter the picture. There are numerous examples of mass online movements against foreign companies in China who learned the hard way about this "side" of the Chinese Internet (i.e. Dell, Toyota, McDonald's, Citroen, Nike, Apple, Starbucks....the list goes on).

Most recently, major foreign media outlets have been feeling the brunt of Chinese digital collectiveness.

One such prominent example of this is Anti-cnn.com. The site was recently established by Rao Jin, a 24 year old Beijing resident, in response to shortcomings he and the site's 1000+ volunteers have identified in foreign media's coverage of recent events in western China. Quoting from the homepage, the site exists "to expose lies and distorted facts [about China] in Western media. The site is maintained by individual volunteers who are not associated with business or government officials, [the site and its contributors are] not against the Western media, but against lies and fabricated stories in the media."

The anti-cnn.com movement and related online discussions have not only taken the Chinese Internet by storm, but have also garnered extensive offline local and foreign mainstream media attention, escalating the situation to a full-blown credibility crisis among the Chinese public.

Key take-away: As more and more companies leverage digital PR to drive communications objectives and business outcomes in China, it's crucial that engagement with online influencers / communities is done with the utmost transparency, honesty, overall "authenticity" (yes, I did it, I almost used the nearly unpronounceable name of our blog in a post...wow!) and general understanding of the local Internet word-of-mouth landscape and its nuances. Chinese netizens are growing increasingly aware of when they are being "sold a bag of goods." Their shrewdness and meticulous scrutiny of online content is working to raise the bar for responsible online corporate / brand behavior and journalism in the PRC...not a bad outcome!

Thoughts?

Adam Schokora @ Edelman DIgital (China)

SUPPLEMENTARY LINKS:
Rao Jin interviewed by the Washington Post
EastSouthWestNorth's "Chinese Netizens versus Western Media"
Youtube's "True Face of Western Media"
Asia Media's "Bloggers battle Western media over bias"