On Language Specification and Politeness Online in the Light of Microblog Headlines by People’s Daily

Abstract

The official microblog account of People’s Daily was first logged in on July 22, 2012. Same as the publications of People’s Daily, it equally owns an unquestionable authority and mass character. Due to the distinctiveness and authority, the account was paid great attention to since its registration. Today, as the only official account of People’s Daily, it enjoys an incomparable attention: according to the statistics, in 2019, the number of the followers of the account has reached 101 million, and the interaction in related topics enabled the government to communicate effectively with the masses, all of which contributed to the first place among all the official accounts concerning the influence online. Such a significant achievement is credited mainly to two aspects. One is the authority, for the account actively leads people to express politely, so that a more civilized online environment can be constructed. Another is responsibility, for it selects the internet phrases, so that the positive attitude can be spread, and our new era can be injected with vitality. The survey also shows that the Weibo (Chinese microblog) of People's Daily is not only rich in content and normative in language , but also pays special attention to the art of language use, which has attracted great attention from scholars, with nearly 10,000 or more research papers per year. Of course, with the growing development of Weibo today, the country must not only be a leader in the Weibo of People's Daily, but also other Weibo bloggers as platforms that can reflect segments of society. As long as management and regulation are strengthened, Weibo will definitely play an increasingly important role in the socialist two civilizations construction.