On Tuesday, Apr. 21, three powerful figures: James Fallows, national correspondent for the Atlantic and renowned author; Kaiser Kuo, Director of International Communications for Baidu and freelance write/rock musician, and; NYU Shanghai’s own Clay Shirky, sat down for a conversation to discuss China’s ever evolving social media. With over fifty people in attendance, the NYU Shanghai community was engaged in the witty, clever, yet profound insights that the journalism and social media experts shared. The conversation began with Fallows explaining common American-held misconceptions on China’s media. “I have noticed that in the past five or six years people have become progressively less afraid of China” he remarked, noting the positive trend of foreign perspectives. While the three agreed that foreign perspectives on China have shifted away from a nation of deprived, shielded citizens, they had somewhat differing opinions on what was best for the course of China’s future in terms of social networking and censorship. “It’s important to see what the world looks like through Beijing’s Point of view; Beijing looks at foreign influence as ‘project of liberal hegemony trying to thwart China’s rise in the world’” Kuo noted. As someone working ‘inside the system’, Kuo has had to balance the interests and dignity of his company while trying to work with the government’s system and understanding its motives. He discussed censorship frankly, joking how the “great China firewall” can be seen from cyberspace, and posed the question: can China’s government win the battle against its own population? James Fallows focused on the “Golden Age of Hu Jintao” -- a concept repetitively brought up and joked about by the three. From 2001 to 2008 while Hu was in power, social media websites blocked today were permitted. Fallows insisted that China’s best move would be to restore the Golden Age, as their best PR move would be to open up China’s social media so the world could witness its cultural diversity. Clay Shirky facilitated the conversation and contributed insights due to his expertise with social media in China. He focused the conversation at times on Kaiser Kuo’s podcast, personal experience with Baidu, and Fallows’ books on China’s aviation industry and economic growth. Overall, the conversation was insightful, the banter witty, and the jokes hilarious. This article was written by Zoe Jordan. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Annie Seaman