The reinvention of “locality”: Imagining the local society with local media

Abstract

In this essay, we draw on the history of internet-based local media at the county level in China to investigate the social implications of the internet for the local society. We take a “formative” approach and analyze the social processes of the reinvention of “locality” from the spatial, economic, and political aspects. We view “locality” not only as the assemblage of different places but also as a theoretical scaffolding that can stimulate a refreshed imagination of geography and media. The scales are reinvented, or redefined, by the digital fabrics of these social platforms which align geographical scales for content producers, including grassroots and official stakeholders. “Locality” is reimagined with internet-based local media. By discussing what is considered as “locality” in the spatial, economic, and political senses from a social perspective, we have explored the mutual shaping of internet-based media practices and the physical world. The social implications of the internet manifest themselves profoundly in the reinvention of “locality.”