(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
that happens as a result of netizens’ deliberate efforts such as those happening via dating sites
belong to this latter category and represent a growing business in China. Dating websites are
becoming more popular as a result of highly mobilized and busy lifestyles. The increasing
use of online dating and improved public attitudes towards the use of online dating sites
could be attributed to the efforts of these sites to collaborate with other traditional channels
such as television and to organize offline activities regularly for the members to participate.
Some of the agencies also have bricks and mortar to provide customer services. By including
more offline elements into the online services, these sites successfully increase their services’
reliability and credibility (CNNIC, 2009a).
In an anthropological account of global correspondence relationships between US men and
Chinese and Filipino women through dating agencies, Constable (2003) focuses on women’s
and men’s experience and diverse motivations in using the Internet to pursue their
transnational love affairs. She challenges the stereotypical mass media portrayal of “mailorder
brides” as either passive, obedient and innocent, or conniving and devious who intend
to use marriage to obtain a green card to live in the US for a better life. She documents the
experiences of Chinese women who are motivated to use online dating agencies because of
their dim marriage prospects with local Chinese men. These women are mainly well-educated,
professional and close to thirty, or middle aged and divorced with child. The latter has the
worst prospect of remarriage because of the stigma of divorce. Furthermore, local Chinese
men generally prefer younger women, and are uncomfortable marrying a woman who has a
higher socioeconomic standing than them.
For those aged 50 and above who have never contemplated the idea of marrying a foreign
partner, the Internet has also provided them an opportunity to reconnect with other singles
who are living in the country. A search of “online romance” using Baidu (a Chinese search
engine) yields result mainly consisting of news reports of online romance that turned sour or
deceptions that victimized the women. But reports involving senior citizens who fall in love
with someone they initially met online are surprisingly more approving, if not positive than
those involving adolescents or young adults. For example, in a report dated 25 October 2007,
after citing two local examples of marriage between elderly people who met through the
Internet, the report proceeded with an analysis by a counselling psychologist who suggested
that online romance can help the elderly to overcome the stigma and embarrassment of
finding a partner as traditionally senior citizens are supposed to remain ascetic as sexual
activities are thought to be detrimental to their health (Evans, 1997). Finding a companion
during old age is now increasing acceptable. In the news report, the senior who found his love
online argues that online romance is indeed more suitable to their generation than the young.
Their age makes them more experienced and capable of discerning genuine love from scam.
They are also more likely to be serious and sincere in finding a life partner rather than
playing around. The following section deals with a unique Chinese online phenomenon that is
closely related to online romance- cyber-marriage, or also called virtual marriage (wang hun).
Cyber-marriage
The idea of getting married online was introduced by the Tianya bulletin board in 2001, from
where it has expanded to other domains such as online games and social networking sites.
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