Awesome TED video explains life behind the Great Firewall

This is very cool. China’s internet space can be a little difficult to figure out at times. A Great Firewall, Weibos, and social clones — to a Westerner it can seem as alien as Mars.

Imagine if there was an easily digestible primer that gave you a quick overview of the online space in the country. That would be great, wouldn’t it? That’s where this TED video from renowned Chinese blogger Michael Anti (Jing Zhao) comes in.

In 19 minutes, Anti explains why China’s policy of “block and clone” has given China a lively, home-built online social space and how those social networks are changing the way Chinese people respond to authority.