Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak has tremendously impacted the world. The number of confirmed cases has continued to increase, causing damage to society and the economy worldwide. The public pays close attention to information on the pandemic and learns about the disease through various media outlets. The dissemination of comprehensive and accurate COVID-19 information that the public needs helps to educate people so they can take preventive measures.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the dissemination of COVID-19 information by analyzing the information released by the official WeChat account of the People’s Daily during the pandemic. The most-read COVID-19 information in China was summarized, and the factors that influence information dissemination were studied to understand the characteristics that affect its dissemination. Moreover, this was conducted in order to identify how to effectively disseminate COVID-19 information and to provide suggestions on how to manage public opinion and information governance during a pandemic.MethodsThis was a retrospective study based on a WeChat official account. We collected all COVID-19–related information, starting with the first report about COVID-19 from the People’s Daily and ending with the last piece of information about lifting the first-level emergency response in 34 Chinese provinces. A descriptive analysis was then conducted on this information, as well as on Qingbo Big Data’s dissemination index. Multiple linear regression was utilized to study the factors that affected information dissemination based on various characteristics and the dissemination index.ResultsFrom January 19 to May 2, 2020, the People’s Daily released 1984 pieces of information; 1621 were related to COVID-19, which mainly included headline news items, items with emotional content, and issues related to the pandemic’s development. By analyzing the dissemination index, seven information dissemination peaks were discerned. Among the three dimensions of COVID-19 information—media salience, content, and format—eight factors affected the spread of COVID-19 information.ConclusionsDifferent types of pandemic-related information have varying dissemination power. To effectively disseminate information and prevent the spread of COVID-19, we should identify the factors that affect this dissemination. We should then disseminate the types of information the public is most concerned about, use information to educate people to improve their health literacy, and improve public opinion and information governance.
Highlights
The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the world tremendously, and the number of confirmed cases has only continued to increase, causing damage to society and the economy worldwide [1,2]
We found that among the three dimensions of COVID-19 information—media salience, content, and format—eight factors affected the spread of COVID-19 information
Only a few indicators have been explored to quantify the effect of COVID-19 information dissemination
Summary
The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the world tremendously, and the number of confirmed cases has only continued to increase, causing damage to society and the economy worldwide [1,2]. It is necessary to research and analyze the dissemination of COVID-19 information in order to help control the disease and disseminate pandemic-related information that the public needs, while ensuring its correct and comprehensive transmission (ie, preventing deviations, omissions, and even errors in the transmission process) [13,14,15] In this era of globalization, it may be difficult to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but the most effective way to prevent panic among people is to provide reliable information that meets the public’s needs [16], information from a scientific viewpoint with a preventive attitude toward COVID-19 [17]. The dissemination of comprehensive and accurate COVID-19 information that the public needs helps to educate people so they can take preventive measures
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