Personal, popular and information portals - Olympic news and the use of mobile phones among migrant workers in Fuzhou

Based on theory regarding mobile communication in general, this essay relates the experiences of migrant workers from both rural and urban areas in Fuzhou, who used mobile phones to stay in contact with the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, to how these contacts supported and encouraged migrant workers to persist in gathering Olympic Games information. In other words, does the relationship between demographics and knowledge about the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games differ according to the use of mobile phones among migrant workers? Results indicate that television became the primary source of Olympic Games news for migrant workers, but actually with few advantages as the respondents considered the mobile phone as their second source of information. Given the higher than average mobile media penetration rate among the sample of migrant workers and their information expectations, we cannot ignore the mobile phone's impact as a channel for information and public services. This essay's focus is also on how the government, the official press and service providers (China Mobile and China Unicom) appreciated the mobile phone as a means of spreading the Olympic Games' influence, making it possible for a large majority of people to enjoy the Olympic Games, and popularizing knowledge.