Reading the information in applications is like eating fast food” : Motherhood and social media

Abstract: This research explores young mothers' usage of social media to obtain child-rearing information in mainland China. I interviewed 11 Chinese women with the different background of their everyday social media practices. Through analyzing of their interpretation, the research displays one facet of mediated society, that is how social media influences young Chinese mothers in different aspects, shaping their cognition of health, transforming their relationship with medical service providers, stimulating their learning behaviors regarding nurturing. The research applies the qualitative methodology and connects the empirical data collected from the semi-structured interview with several theoretical frames related to the media studies, such as critical sociology of media and health, health literacy and socially structured motherhood of feminist studies. The research discloses that social media in China context has unique forms and play a crucial role in mother's lives. Mothers showcase different tactics to seek parental information, to apply curative instructions, to be empowered in the decision-making process, to management risk of illness and to negotiate their position in household relationships. This research highlights the significance of the cross-disciplinary study of media, people, health, and society, especially filling the gap of providing an original research focusing on the developing eastern country, where media environment is notably different from western society.