China Turns to Tweeting: Exploring the Problematic use of Tweeting in China
Patti Collett Miles

Abstract
Weibo much like America‟s „Twitter‟ is a micro-blog used by the majority of the Chinese workforce. The recent Internet phenomenon appears to have millions users, many of whom appear addicted. Little scholarly work has examined the problematic use of Weibo. This exploratory study provides an amazing insight into the phenomenon, providing a much clearer understanding of Chinese‟ problematic use of Weibo. This unprecedented study analyzes a group of 500 Chinese tweeters across a critical 10 day period, and provided interesting analysis of over 370 tweets collected from Sina, the largest micro-blogging platform in China. The study suggests clear evidence of problematic use among the Chinese tweeters, both at work and home. Content analysis reveals four major themes: withdrawal, compulsivity, disregard of negative consequences, and intrinsic efforts to control personal use. The study provides unprecedented insight into the problem as well as suggesting possible aids in both diagnosis and intervention necessary to curb the micro-blogging addiction.

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