New Era of Internet Addiction Research in China

Introduction

In recent decades, one area of research on media effects has shed extensive light on problematic behavior in the use of media, particularly the overuse or the maladaptive use of the Internet, which is commonly known as Internet addiction (IA). Previous research supported the notion that the excessive use of technology could be problematic. Young posited that IA could be defined as an impulse-control disorder that does not involve an intoxicant. Recent research in IA has given rise to heated discussions and debates about the definition and assessment of IA and its related causes and consequences. Because the Internet has been widely adopted relatively recently in China, whether IA exists among Internet users as well as the symptoms and characteristics of addicts has become a focus of researchers in many disciplines (e.g., communication, psychiatry, psychology, sociology, public health, and education). Most scholars have agreed that IA research has significant implications for both theory and policy.

Despite the existing debate about the nature of IA, most researchers have considered previous definitions of addiction and integrated potential new symptoms. Hence, although different terminologies have been proposed (e.g., Internet dependency, problematic Internet use, and pathological Internet use), they include similar criteria for the assessment of the basic symptoms. Although certain aspects of this complex psychosocial process remain unclear, recent studies have reported important findings on diagnosing addictive symptoms, identifying predictors, and recommending preventive measures and treatments. However, because the previous IA research was conducted mainly in Western countries, little is known about the status of Internet addiction research in China. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the work done in this emerging field in China, which has 731 million Internet users.

Internet and Smartphone Penetration in China

With an internet penetration rate of 53.2%, the lives of Chinese are undergoing significant change. Among the new netizens in 2016, 80.7% used a mobile phone to go online. Moreover, research has shown a polarized trend in the age differences among netizens as increasing numbers of both youngsters and elders begin using the Internet.

The number of mobile phone users reached 695 million at the end of 2016, and the percentage of people who used the telephone to go online increased from 90.1% in 2015 to 95.1% in 2016. Instant messaging (IM), search engine, and online news, as fundamental Internet services, showed steadily increasing usage at rates above 80%. On mobile phones, the most often used application was IM. The survey revealed that up to 79.6% of netizens used WeChat the most often, followed by QQ (60%), Taobao, Baidu, and Alipay. In addition, Moments and Qzone, which are social services provided by WeChat and QQ, were also widely used at rates of 85.8% and 67.8%, respectively. The 2016 China Social Media Influence Report released by Kantar pointed out that over half of urban Chinese citizens were social media users. Moreover, compared with Americans, British, French, and Brazilian social media users, Chinese social media users ranked third in terms of activeness. Sixty-two percent of American interviewees reported using Facebook and/or Twitter, whereas 58% in Brazil and 56% in China (Weibo and/or WeChat) reported using these social media.

According to the report, there were 417 million online gamers in China, comprising 57% of the entire netizen population. There were 352 million mobile gamers, or 50.6% of all mobile phone users. The number of online shoppers reached 467 million, or 63.8% of all netizens. In particular, there were 441 million mobile-phone online shoppers, which was an annual increase of 29.8%.

Live video streaming services increased throughout 2016 as capital poured into this newly developed industry, which is gaining popularity among Chinese netizens. At the end of 2016, the number of live streaming users had rocketed to 344 million, comprising 47.1% of all netizens. The usage rates of sports live, game live, and live chatting were 20.7%, 20%, and 19.8%, respectively.

The 2015 Chinese Teenagers’ Online Behavior Report, released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) revealed that at the end of 2015, there were 287 million teenage netizens in China, comprising 85.3% of the entire adolescent population, 90% of whom used mobile phone to access the Internet, whereas the percentages of personal computer and laptop users were 69% and 39.5%, respectively. The usage rates of IM, Weibo, and Bulletin Board System (BBS) were 92.4%, 37.6%, and 18%, respectively, all of which were higher than the average usage rate in China. At the end of 2015, the number of underage netizens reached 134 million, comprising 46.6% of all teenage netizens. It is worth noting that the usage rate of online gaming, which was 69.2%, was higher than that of the average rate of teenage netizens.