Internet memes and Chinese social networks: Overview and analytical perspectives

This programmatic text introduces an experimental methodology to investigate the many local dimensions that applies during the spread of information through online social networks. The study of the diffusion of Internet memes in China aims at providing an understanding about how a basic message can take on different meanings by spreading through different territories, with different geographic scales. The first part of the paper provides an overview of the Chinese Internet context and some specific uses of social networks, like the diffusion of Internet memes. The second part deals more specifically with ongoing works concerning Chinese social networks data analysis. The third part describes the experimental research protocol we plan to implement.