Link: The Guardian -- Internet in China, Cuba, India, Russia

[potofsoup]

(As I insist on putting interesting things in Discrete Posts...)

Link from umadoshi: The internet, but not as we know it: life online in China, Cuba, India and Russia

An incredibly cutesy article (each country's internet experience is presented in its relevant form), but somewhat informative as well.

Comments

[bluewinged_songbird]

Woahhhhh, this was really cool. I like how it gave us all a feel of what it's like to use those platforms, yeah even the file transfer screen that loads as you read the article!

Do you know about any other substitutions that have been made to get around censors? I know only 1 from an article I read a while ago that #MeToo is censored in China, so they use 米兔 instead. That's just cute and clever!

[potofsoup]

I think a lot of things get substitutions? I was reading an article theorizing why foreigners can't squat, and I was like "why do they keep saying 歪果人 and then I was like "Oh...."

[bluewinged_songbird]

OMG 歪果人!!!!!!! Is this for the sheer hell of it? I don't see why foreigners would be censored but maybe it's so language learners can't find it? Bonus points for being hilarious and also slightly demeaning!

[potofsoup]

I think it's for the sheer hell of it? I think using the wrong characters has become a way of indicating tone (in this case, a sort of humorous one). I know that 悲剧 and 喜剧 are sometimes written as 杯具 洗具....

[bluewinged_songbird]

Makes sense! I forget how much of Chinese culture just revolves around puns, puns and more puns.

[flaksesomlys]

<3