Social Media’s Transformative Impact on Chinese Gen-Z Girls’ Gratifications in Physical Activity

Abstract

Anchored in uses and gratifications theory, this study investigates how social media is reshaping Chinese Gen Z youths’ interpretations of the long-held cultural belief that girls should not participate in sport or physical activities. As Part of a broader study that also involved an anonymous quantitative survey of 722 high school students, this article focuses on the results from four focus groups involving 33 high school students, all of whom also completed the survey. The focus groups revealed a marked gender difference in perspectives about the appropriateness of sport and physical activity for girls outside school contexts. While males report no family opposition to participation, over half the female participants faced some opposition. However, once female participants became teenagers they engaged in information-seeking on social media to gratify their desire for new ideas and information about sport and physical activity. This process of digital information-seeking enabled them to contest and reframe traditionally restrictive gender norms.