Textual Analysis of the Human Flesh Search Engine

The primacy goal of this thesis was to develop a better understanding of the phenomenon of the human flesh search engine in China. The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze the characteristics of the human flesh search engine from the perspective of group dynamics and group communication. The human flesh search engine was identified here as a temporary online group in which people get together spontaneously to help solve problems mostly through searching for people and calling for justice. With the development of modern internet technology and society, the behavior of the human flesh search engine has become more frequent and is large in scale. Accurate comprehension of this phenomenon might help with directing and utilizing this behavior. Textual analysis was applied to this study to examine selected online postings, mainly in the forums of three major online communities. Qualitative research data consisted of online postings and media reports of the three human flesh search cases- the cat abuse case, the brand name cigarette case, and the most wicked stepmother case, in three online communities - Mop, Tianya and Sina Book Forum in China. These three human flesh search engine cases were analyzed using the concepts of leadership, division of labor and collaborative filtering. The findings indicate that the human flesh search engine accords with some characteristics of online groups, however, it has its own traits - No leaders are pre-assigned to the group, leaders gradually emerge and the first leader appears to be the initiator. Large numbers of people spontaneously collaborate in a short time, and the division of labor makes the group process more efficient. Collaborative filtering influences the integrity and authenticity of the information during the group process. The results of the study can hopefully help us to understand the behavior of the human flesh search engine and to predict and study other online social group and community in future study.