Abstract
“The spiral of silence” theory was first funded by Professor Elizabeth Noelle Neumann in 1972. This theory indicates that, if a person feels that his opinion is belonging to minority, he is less likely to express it, because he is afraid of being retaliated or isolated by majority. This theory assumes that people are always estimating what the public opinion is, and they often judge it through the media. The theory also assumes that we have an inherent fear of isolation and that we know what perspectives can lead us to isolation by majority. This theory also explains why there are always such minority groups in the society and they dare to raise different opinions. With the flash development of the Internet, more and more self media have broken the old pattern of mass media as the information publisher. So it is a big question whether “the spiral of silence” theory is still applicable to the Internet environment. This paper, from the perspective of the basic hypothesis and core theory of “the spiral of silence”, focuses on whether the theory is applicable to the communicative behavior in We-Media.
Highlights
Original PaperWorld Journal of Educational Research ISSN 2375-9771 (Print) ISSN 2333-5998 (Online)
Introduction and Literature ReviewWhen first learning about “the spiral of silence”, I was told that this theory was applicable in the traditional mass communication environment
This theory indicates that, if a person feels that his opinion is belonging to minority, he is less likely to express it, because he is afraid of being retaliated or isolated by majority. This theory assumes that people are always estimating what the public opinion is, and they often judge it through the media
Summary
World Journal of Educational Research ISSN 2375-9771 (Print) ISSN 2333-5998 (Online). Abstract “The spiral of silence” theory was first funded by Professor Elizabeth Noelle Neumann in 1972 This theory indicates that, if a person feels that his opinion is belonging to minority, he is less likely to express it, because he is afraid of being retaliated or isolated by majority. The theory assumes that we have an inherent fear of isolation and that we know what perspectives can lead us to isolation by majority This theory explains why there are always such minority groups in the society and they dare to raise different opinions. With the flash development of the Internet, more and more self media have broken the old pattern of mass media as the information publisher It is a big question whether “the spiral of silence” theory is still applicable to the Internet environment. This paper attempts to analyze and explore whether the theory of the “spiral of silence” is applicable to the communication activities in Weibo, starting with the question: if the premise hypothesis of “the spiral of silence” theory is changed in the new media environment, and what are the specific forms of these changes
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