Celebrity-inspired, Fan-driven: Doing Philanthropy through Social Media in Mainland China

Jeffreys, E; Xu, J

Celebrity-inspired, Fan-driven: Doing Philanthropy through Social Media in Mainland China

Jeffreys, E

Xu, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Asian Studies Review, 2017, 41 (2), pp. 244 - 262
Issue Date:: 2017-04-03

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Jeffreys, E https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8269-7080	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Xu, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2798-0996	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:16:05Z
dc.date.issued	2017-04-03	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Asian Studies Review, 2017, 41 (2), pp. 244 - 262	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1035-7823	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/88113
dc.description.abstract	© 2017 Asian Studies Association of Australia. This paper provides the first detailed study of the links between celebrity-fan communication networks and philanthropy in the People’s Republic of China. It explains how the evolution of the Chinese Internet, and especially the rise of social media, has created new spaces in which fans of entertainment celebrities may be induced to engage with philanthropic causes. It then outlines the history of Chinese fan-driven philanthropic initiatives centred on people who became famous through reality-television popular music competitions. Finally, it offers a case study of the initiatives connected to popstar Li Yuchun, and examines the rationales provided by fans in online forums and interviews for their philanthropic engagement. Critics of celebrity-inspired philanthropy highlight its supposedly inauthentic and passive nature. Yet we find that fans actively exploit the forms of sociality that are provided by celebrity-fan communication networks, both to establish virtual participatory communities and to generate social action in the form of non-government-organised volunteering.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT100100238
dc.relation.ispartof	Asian Studies Review	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/10357823.2017.1294145	en_US
dc.title	Celebrity-inspired, Fan-driven: Doing Philanthropy through Social Media in Mainland China	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	41	en_US
utslib.for	2001 Communication and Media Studies	en_US
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of International Studies
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	41	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017 Asian Studies Association of Australia. This paper provides the first detailed study of the links between celebrity-fan communication networks and philanthropy in the People’s Republic of China. It explains how the evolution of the Chinese Internet, and especially the rise of social media, has created new spaces in which fans of entertainment celebrities may be induced to engage with philanthropic causes. It then outlines the history of Chinese fan-driven philanthropic initiatives centred on people who became famous through reality-television popular music competitions. Finally, it offers a case study of the initiatives connected to popstar Li Yuchun, and examines the rationales provided by fans in online forums and interviews for their philanthropic engagement. Critics of celebrity-inspired philanthropy highlight its supposedly inauthentic and passive nature. Yet we find that fans actively exploit the forms of sociality that are provided by celebrity-fan communication networks, both to establish virtual participatory communities and to generate social action in the form of non-government-organised volunteering.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/88113