The fieldsite we call the GoodPath is a small factory town in southeast China, a few hours from Shanghai by train. More than two-thirds of the 60,000 residents are part of the biggest migration in human history in which over 200 million Chinese peasants are leaving their rural homes to work in factories and cities. We see the significant consequences of social media use for people who, after a day's hard labour, view this as their main form of socialisation and entertainment, as well as the place where they develop their aspirations towards modernity.
Videos
The Apple phone
WeChat business
From a factory workshop to the local night market
Negative postings and the deceased friend on social media
"PLAY"Boys
I can't scale the digital
link up my family tree
Paintings of fieldwork in a factory town
A brief tour of the southeast China field site
Our researcher in South China
Xinyuan Wang is a PhD candidate at the Deptartment of Anthropology, University College London. She obtained her MSc from 香港六合彩's Digital Anthropology programme. She is an artist in Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. She translated 'Digital Anthropology' (ed. Horst and Miller) into Chinese and contributed a piece on digital anthropology in China.