Page 80 - IJPS-11-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Low fertility intentions in China

2.2. Data source of the group. Among the numerous distinct interest

“Weibo” is a Chinese common noun for microblog. Due groups are the groups of news media organizations. They
to the popularity of Sina Weibo and the subsequent are Weibo groups formed by conventional news media
decommissioning of numerous other Chinese to expand their outreach into the digital sphere. The
microblogging services (Vic., Tencent Weibo, Sohu Weibo, credibility of these groups has been further assured by the
and NetEase Weibo), it has then been commonly referred verified accounts gained through the stringent organization
to simply as “Weibo.” Since then, the common noun verification process. These news media groups have been
“Weibo” has become much like a proper noun that refers the trusted sources of news and the carefree place for the
specifically to Sina Weibo; ergo, this article has chosen this Chinese to engage in social interactions, evidenced by the
succinct term to describe this specific microblog site. 2.4 trillion annual view counts and 6.68 million interaction
counts (Sina Weibo, 2020, p. 18). In another similar report,
The tightly implemented internet censorship has statistics showed that the official Weibo group of these
prevented Chinese citizens from accessing alternative news media outlets had instigated 89% of the country’s
social media services, such as Facebook and Twitter, which hotly discussed present affairs (Sina Weibo, 2021, p. 5).
are accessible to non-Chinese citizens. Besides, in contrast As for the topics surrounding fertility intentions,
to photo sharing (e.g., Instagram) or short-video hosting although news and discourse of plummeting fertility rates
(e.g., TikTok) services, Weibo’s features, which resemble are omnipresent across these groups, few have facilitated
those of Twitter, offer Chinese netizens a platform to post an open-ended poll that enables their group members to
textual messages that convey personal insights on their answer fertility intentions questions in their own words,
topics of interest, especially those on-trend. As a result, in the comment section below the thread, instead of
Weibo has been the most felicitous choice of data source choosing from a predefined set of options. In this respect,
for our study.
our inquiry revealed that on January 14, 2019, The Beijing
China’s most prominent microblogging service, Weibo, News’s official Weibo account had raised such a question
has become an essential platform for understanding and and invited open-ended responses from its members (The
analyzing public opinions and social trends within the Beijing News, 2019). For this reason, these responses were
nation. Since its inception in 2009, Weibo has grown to collected as the dataset for our study.
over 500 million monthly active users (Sina Weibo, 2020),
offering a unique window into the collective mindset 2.3. Data collection
of Chinese citizens (Millward, 2012). According to Gu The discovery of the open-ended poll by The Beijing News’s
(2014, p. 72), Weibo, and social media more broadly, is official Weibo account was made through a search of
considered “a bridge of mutual communication” between Weibo threads containing keywords, such as “Bu Sheng Er
the government and its citizens, providing a crucial Tai De Li You” (Reason for not having a second child), “Er
platform for engagement. Similarly, Luo (2014, p. 1306) Tai” (Second child), “Er Hai” (Second baby), “Sheng Yu”
highlights its role as a go-to space for “gaining insight into (Birth), and “Bu Sheng” (Childless by choice) over a 5-year
the tone of public discussion”. time frame from 2019 to 2023. The poll was posted with the
Under the impetus of the platform’s rich and accessible hashtag “#Gei Wo Yi Ge Bu Sheng Er Tai De Li You#” (Give
source of qualitative data, coupled with its widespread me a reason for not having a second child). The responses
adoption in China, this study found strong evidence that to this question would be the determinants of low fertility
Weibo could offer an invaluable source that enables the intentions, consistent with the study’s unit of analysis, that
capturing of authentic perceptions, opinions, and attitudes is, Weibo’s users who have low fertility intentions. Threads
toward the nation’s family planning policy and the containing only emoticons, punctuation, interjections,
interwoven social phenomena. This motivated this study to or those that mention or talk to other people using “@
explore, through the platform, the factors that contribute username” were excluded from the sample. Similarly,
to low fertility intentions among Chinese citizens, an if a person repeatedly posted an identical comment, it
undesirable phenomenon despite the country’s willful was counted only once. Hence, after filtering the invalid,
transition from a one-child policy to two- and three-child repeated, or incomplete observations, 1023 threads were
policies. excluded from the initial retrieval of 1904 threads. A final
sample size of 881 responses was included in our analysis.
2.2.1. Weibo group The data obtained included every thread’s textual content
Much like Facebook groups, Weibo groups are platforms as well as the respondent’s user ID.
within the microblogging site that facilitate information In terms of ethical issues, Weibo is regarded as being
exchange on selected topics of interest among members in the public domain, meaning that the data are freely

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 74 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.5124