Just Like the Qing Dynasty: Internet Addiction, MMOGs, and Moral Crisis in Contemporary China

This article examines discourse about Internet addiction and video-game-related
suicide in the People's Republic of China. Through an
analysis of media reportage, interview transcripts, and chat
rooms, a preliminary account of the origins of contemporary
Chinese concerns with Internet addiction is provided. This
approach differs from biomedical models, which see Internet
suicide as a form of mental illness, similar to drug or
gambling addiction. This approach draws on anthropological and
sociological models of the cultural construction of social problems
and argues that concerns with Internet addiction are part of
a more general moral crisis faced by Chinese, in response to
rapid consumerism, the medicalization of mental illness, and
new forms of public and publicity.