Air pollution online: everyday environmental information on the social media site Sina Weibo
| Pages | 722-740 |
| Published date | 09 July 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2018-0003 |
| Date | 09 July 2018 |
| Author | Carin Graminius,Jutta Haider |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Air pollution online: everyday
environmental information on the
social media site Sina Weibo
Carin Graminius
Lund University Library, Lund, Sweden, and
Jutta Haider
Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore how information on air pollution is shaped online on an
everyday basis, with a particular emphasis on digital devices and digital representations as constitutive of
environmental information practices. Furthermore, this research highlights an understudied aspect of air
pollution –the digital flow of multimodal representations that citizens encounter and produce in their everyday life.
Design/methodology/approach –The information gathering was carried out on an everyday basis during
February-March 2017. The study is based on 403 microblog posts from the social media site Sina Weibo, and
netnographic fieldwork, including the observation of news, advertisements, and diary writing. The collected
data were mapped in clusters based on the interrelations of objects, agents, and activities, and analyzed in
depth using qualitative multimodal analysis.
Findings –Information enacted through specific socio-materialist configurations depicts air pollution as
self-contained and separated from human action. Air quality apps are central in connecting a wider nexus of
representations and promoting such perceptions, illustrating the role of digital devices in an everyday
information context.
Social implications –The study reveals a schism between Chinese political environmental visions and
everyday environmental information practices, which raises questions of how the battle against air pollution
can be sustained in the long term.
Originality/value –This study suggests that digital material aspects –inbuilt applications of digital
devices and digital representations of objects –are interrelated with physical experiences of air pollution, and
thus constitute elements of practice in their own right.
Keywords China, Social media, Air pollution, Microblogging, Digital materiality,
Everyday information practices, Microblogs
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper examines information about air pollution on the Chinese social media site Sina
Weibo from the perspectives of the practice theory (Schatzki, 2001a, b) and socio-material
theory (e.g. Scott and Orlikowski, 2012). Attention is paid to the constitutive entanglement of
social and material aspects in how information about air pollution is shaped, in particular
for understanding the digital materiality of objects such as digital devices and digital
representations of physical objects related to air pollution. It aims to: explore how a certain
type of environmental information is shaped in tandem with social practices, focusing in
particular on digital devices and tools, digital representations of objects, and activities and
experiences as part of a complex network of information providers that people encounter in
their daily lives; and illustrate the role of social media as everyday information sites which
Chinese citizens engage in and contribute to in their everyday lives.
Research on environmentally relevant information practices has stressed the centrality
of socio-material relations in shaping environmental awareness and environmental
behavior (Haider, 2011, 2016; Hobson, 2006; Nathan, 2012). It is suggested that objects
mediate public participation in environmental matters and solicit practices by their material
presence, while articulating a representation of a certain ethic (Hobson, 2006; Marres, 2012).
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 4, 2018
pp. 722-740
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-01-2018-0003
Received 19 January 2018
Revised 11 March 2018
Accepted 18 March 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
722
JD
74,4
Furthermore, mundane objects are seen to materialize environmental concerns; items, such as
cars and recycling bins, can function as trigger objects that invite people to think of
environmental issues that are otherwise often abstract an d invisible, for example, sustainability
(Haider, 2011). Recent information practice research also explores how environmentally
relevant everyday life practices play out online, and illustrates how digital practices contribute
to forming information aboutthe environment and eco-friendly lifestyles (Haider, 2016). Given
the ubiquity of digital devices in contemporary society, it is safe to say that the materiality of
information in online settings has implications for how information is shaped in social
practices offline. This is also the case for practices that are considered to have a bearing on
environmental issues.
In China, environmental concerns are manifold, but air pollution, in particular, attracts a lot
of attention. Given that 20 of the top 30 most polluted cities in the world are located in China
(Shapiro, 2016, p. 7), and lung cancer is on the rise (Scutti, 2016), this interest is understandable.
Thedeterioratedairqualityisaccompaniedbythesoaringsalesofobjectsrelatedtoair
pollution, such as air purifiers, facemasks, air tonics, PM2.5 measure devices, or air quality
apps (Fullerton, 2016). The Chinese local environmental bureaus update the air quality
measurements daily, and advertisements for various air-related items appear in the media.
These objects are physically part of people’s everyday life and also figure on social media. Thus,
environmental threats are strongly anchored in mundane everyday life settings and many of
these settings are, in turn, saturated by use and presence of various digital devices and online
communication tools. This makes everyday flows on social media an interesting starting point
for an investigation, as they can provide an insight into citizens’behaviors and perceptions in
the face of environmental threats. As such, this research contributes to the field of socio-
materialist relations by exploring digital aspects of objects, both as representations on social
media and as digital objects in their own right –henceforth referred to as digital materiality.
The study is guided by the following broad research questions:
RQ1. Which elements are central in representing air pollution in Chinese social media, in
which contexts do they appear, and what type of social practices are they
constitutive of?
RQ2. In which ways are digital objects and social media information practices connected
to air pollution,and which understandings of airpollution are they seen to advance?
Elements of practices and everyday information: the practice and socio-material
theory
Information research drawing on a practice theory approach emphasizes the embedded
character of information, as it is sustained and produced in specific settings and by and
through certain social practices (Savolainen, 2007, pp. 120-123; Cox, 2012; Shove et al., 2012).
For instance, Anne-Marie Lloyd’s (2009) study of work-related practices among ambulance
drivers shows how everyday routines shape how work-related information is generated.
Practices are understood to consist of elements; that is, objects, human actors, activities,
emotions, language, or events can allbe elements of practices (Schatzki,2001a, pp. 10-13), and
the arrangements of different sets of elements, in turn, form practices (Shove et al., 2012).
Conceptualizing practices in this way allows different elements to take prominence.
This study of information on air pollution in Chinese social media uses material aspects and
the configurationsthey enter with other elements as its focal point of analysis. Information is
in this sense seen as interwoven with everyday practices, and the use of social media often
constitutes an element in such practices.
While workplaces constitute one field that has often been in focus in studies of
information practices, as they tend to provide delineable settings for defining context
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Air pollution
online
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