Includes bibliographical references and index.

Social transformation in China (1979-2010) -- The internet with Chinese characteristics -- Paradoxes as lived experiences of modernization : urban youth with Chinese characteristics -- The internet in the everyday lifeworld : "I-and-the-internet" narratives from members of China's "net-generation" -- Internet anxiety, the norm of the "good" netizen and the construction of the "proper" wired self -- Between demonization and celebration : Chinese urban youth and the net café -- The Balinghou's collective narrative in an online forum -- From political indifference to vehement nationalism : Chinese young people negotiating the political self in the internet age -- Conclusion: modernity, the internet and the self.