During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media, particularly WeChat Official Accounts, served as important platforms for Chinese universities to share health information, offer insights, and encourage collective actions. This study, grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), utilized content analysis and regression analysis to examine 996 tweets published on WeChat from major universities. It focused on ideological and political communication, aiming to understand the influence of various factors on university students’ media engagement, which was quantified by metrics like “numbers of times read” (NTR) and “wow” of tweets posted on the WeChat Official Accounts. The findings revealed notable differences in media engagement correlating with the content themes of the tweets. Specific factors, such as content originality and vividness, were observed to significantly influence “wow”, primarily through the ELM’s central pathway. Conversely, the length and tone of tweets’ titles appeared to impact NTR through the peripheral pathway. Additionally, the timing of tweet publication was found to have a significant effect on overall engagement. The findings showed that for enhanced engagement, universities could benefit from focusing on consistent content theme and emotional appeal. Consequently, emphasizing content originality, adopting innovative presentation methods, and fostering a community-centric approach to information dissemination could potentially create a more effective and resonant communication environment which could lead the thoughts of youth.
| Published in | Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14 |
| Page(s) | 203-215 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
COVID-19, University, WeChat Official Accounts, Elaboration Likelihood Model, Engagement, Thought Leadership
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APA Style
Wang, Y., Zhang, J., Wang, L. (2023). Utilizing WeChat to Shape Youth Perspectives: A Content Analysis of University Communication Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(6), 203-215. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14
ACS Style
Wang, Y.; Zhang, J.; Wang, L. Utilizing WeChat to Shape Youth Perspectives: A Content Analysis of University Communication Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2023, 11(6), 203-215. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14
AMA Style
Wang Y, Zhang J, Wang L. Utilizing WeChat to Shape Youth Perspectives: A Content Analysis of University Communication Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Humanit Soc Sci. 2023;11(6):203-215. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14
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Download@article{10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14,
author = {Yuhan Wang and Jing Zhang and Lei Wang},
title = {Utilizing WeChat to Shape Youth Perspectives: A Content Analysis of University Communication Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic},
journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
volume = {11},
number = {6},
pages = {203-215},
doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20231106.14},
abstract = {During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media, particularly WeChat Official Accounts, served as important platforms for Chinese universities to share health information, offer insights, and encourage collective actions. This study, grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), utilized content analysis and regression analysis to examine 996 tweets published on WeChat from major universities. It focused on ideological and political communication, aiming to understand the influence of various factors on university students’ media engagement, which was quantified by metrics like “numbers of times read” (NTR) and “wow” of tweets posted on the WeChat Official Accounts. The findings revealed notable differences in media engagement correlating with the content themes of the tweets. Specific factors, such as content originality and vividness, were observed to significantly influence “wow”, primarily through the ELM’s central pathway. Conversely, the length and tone of tweets’ titles appeared to impact NTR through the peripheral pathway. Additionally, the timing of tweet publication was found to have a significant effect on overall engagement. The findings showed that for enhanced engagement, universities could benefit from focusing on consistent content theme and emotional appeal. Consequently, emphasizing content originality, adopting innovative presentation methods, and fostering a community-centric approach to information dissemination could potentially create a more effective and resonant communication environment which could lead the thoughts of youth.
},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Utilizing WeChat to Shape Youth Perspectives: A Content Analysis of University Communication Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic AU - Yuhan Wang AU - Jing Zhang AU - Lei Wang Y1 - 2023/11/24 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14 DO - 10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14 T2 - Humanities and Social Sciences JF - Humanities and Social Sciences JO - Humanities and Social Sciences SP - 203 EP - 215 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8184 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231106.14 AB - During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media, particularly WeChat Official Accounts, served as important platforms for Chinese universities to share health information, offer insights, and encourage collective actions. This study, grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), utilized content analysis and regression analysis to examine 996 tweets published on WeChat from major universities. It focused on ideological and political communication, aiming to understand the influence of various factors on university students’ media engagement, which was quantified by metrics like “numbers of times read” (NTR) and “wow” of tweets posted on the WeChat Official Accounts. The findings revealed notable differences in media engagement correlating with the content themes of the tweets. Specific factors, such as content originality and vividness, were observed to significantly influence “wow”, primarily through the ELM’s central pathway. Conversely, the length and tone of tweets’ titles appeared to impact NTR through the peripheral pathway. Additionally, the timing of tweet publication was found to have a significant effect on overall engagement. The findings showed that for enhanced engagement, universities could benefit from focusing on consistent content theme and emotional appeal. Consequently, emphasizing content originality, adopting innovative presentation methods, and fostering a community-centric approach to information dissemination could potentially create a more effective and resonant communication environment which could lead the thoughts of youth. VL - 11 IS - 6 ER -
Convergence Media Center, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
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