A Chat About WeChat At Formal Hall

To mark the closing of another term, Morningside Fellows, college guests, and students gathered together on Friday, 1 December for a formal hall dinner. At a typical formal hall, excellent food is paired with lively conversation, and to enjoy the time shared together, there may be a short break from technology and social media. However, on this evening social media took center stage.

In a talk titled, “Social Media and the Stranger in Rural China”, Dr. Tom McDonald, from the Sociology Department of the University of Hong Kong, spoke about his latest research in Shandong Province. Tom embedded himself in a rural community for 15 months to study how individuals in the village use social media and its effects on social lives. Over the course of his ethnographic research, he became most interested in how social media is being used to interact with strangers. He came to understand that the traditional anthropological perspective on rural Chinese social life being reserved, insular, and extending outwards from familial ties is likely now outdated. To his surprise, many people in the rural community were seeking and building relationships with strangers through social media. New technology has not replaced family connections; rather it has afforded people the opportunity to have separate and sometimes private social lives where they often feel they can express themselves more openly or find others who share similar interests.

Tom’s research was part of a broader global project managed by University College London called Why We Post, which investigates social media use around the world. To conclude his talk, Tom mentioned how being a part of this ambitious project and going on his own adventure has been of great benefit to him personally. For the many students listening from numerous different academic disciplines, he had these words of advice, “Find your own adventure”.