Zhu Dake, who coaxes customers: the Internet’s “will to coax customers” in a transforming society

People have used the Internet to gain the right to speak. This is a great event worth cheering. The participation of hundreds of millions of netizens has laid a strong mathematical foundation for the construction of China's public opinion platform. But the click-through rate base is not only a numbers game, but also means that this broad will to attract customers is becoming a subtle force affecting the transformation of society.

On the other hand, the double-edged sword effect of the Internet has gradually emerged. In the name of moral justice, Internet trolls ruthlessly target all kinds of people, big and small. From Zhang Ziyi-style movie stars, "psychopathic" cat abusers, to bronze-bearded "third parties", they have all become "public enemies" of the majority of customers, while those more important social topics have been criticized. Serious neglect. The Internet is permeated with a strong post-Cultural Revolution ideological atmosphere, which is characterized by Cultural Revolution-style narrative (one center), plus pan-moralism and pan-nationalism (two basic points).

Extramarital love is a matter of emotional (life) re-selection, which contains a large number of ambiguous rights and wrongs that are difficult for outsiders to distinguish. It can only be resolved through coordination and resolution by the relevant parties in accordance with conscience and law. Any militia-like brutality from the outside Interference, including simple and blunt characterization of "moral crimes", may constitute an infringement on the personal rights, reputation and freedom of civilians. The "victim" publishing the personal privacy of the "suspect" and inciting social hatred is a direct violation of modern civil law.

It is said that the "bad attitude" of the "criminal" Bronzebeard is the biggest source of anger among netizens. If we look back on history, it is not difficult to find that incriminating people based on attitude was once a major feature of Chinese justice. During the Cultural Revolution, the slogan “Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist” was posted everywhere and later became the main sign of the interrogation room. Due to the unconstitutionality and illegality of the so-called "attitude crime", with the update of legal concepts, this method of case trial has been abandoned by the public security and judicial system, but it has been inherited by some cheaters. There is no doubt that Caoke did not master the latest legal tools, but held a rusty weapon of authoritarianism.

It is a common sense fallacy to regard the Bronzebeard incident as a just expression of Internet democracy. Democracy must be based on the logical premise of protecting everyone's freedom, and everyone's freedom must be based on not infringing on the freedom of others. This chain logic is the cornerstone of value in constructing modern society. Any democracy that deprives individuals of their freedom is an unjust democracy and will inevitably create enemies of democracy. The Cultural Revolution was a negative example of “great democracy”.

A small number of Chinese tourists also fiercely opposed the criticisms of the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. This fear of international public opinion is exactly the emotional response of narrow nationalism. Some people claim that Chinese people have their own unique moral standards. But since we firmly believe that human nature and human rights are universal, the ethical standards for measuring human nature should be universal and global. In my opinion, establishing this universal value concept and accepting the supervision of the international community are the spiritual prerequisites for China to move toward modernization.

Anonymous registration and anonymous surfing are suspected of exacerbating the abuse of voice and moral loss. Based on this, some netizens have once again proposed the motion to abolish the anonymity system. But this is a red flag of overkill. Anonymity is the lifeblood of maintaining online democracy. To solve the problem of online discourse violence, anonymity must not be used, but website management should be the starting point, because those large commercial websites are the ones behind most online heckles.

In order to increase click-through rates and advertising revenue, some commercial websites organize hype groups, carefully create troubles, incite netizens to invest, hype (criticize or praise) selected Internet individuals, and even conduct propaganda based on the number of web page clicks. Technical fraud is the main cause of many major Internet incidents. Just as the TV industry has popularized "only ratings", commercial websites face strong market challenges and regard "click-through rates" as a criterion for assessing employee performance, forcing many practitioners to abandon basic management practices. In my opinion, only by giving up this click-rate-first operating strategy can network administrators dare to say "no" to illegal netizens, stop the growth of online discourse violence, and ensure the healthy growth of the Internet.

We must not only firmly defend anonymity and freedom of speech online, but also point out the deviations of Internet speech to ensure that this freedom will not be taken back in the name of "evil abuse." Yes, anger, catharsis, diversion of libido, and the infinite desire to maintain morality in a state of moral collapse have become wonderful features attached to the Internet.

The necessary understanding should be given to this temporary, transitional, and transformational customer mentality. I even think that the function of the Internet as a super clinic must be retained for a long time. But I am still full of the hope that the focus of social attention should be shifted away from the moral affairs of small people and invested in more important areas. In these important areas, I should rationally shout out my loud voice. And this is the correct fulcrum to hold up China's future.

Data source: "China News Weekly" on July 7, 2006