Public Voice via Social Media: Role in Cooperative Governance during Public Health Emergency

Abstract

With the development of the Internet, social networking sites have empowered the public to directly express their views about social issues and hence contribute to social change. As a new type of voice behavior, public voice on social media has aroused wide concern among scholars. However, why public voice is expressed and how it influences social development and betterment in times of public health emergencies remains unstudied. A key point is whether governments can take effective countermeasures when faced with public health emergencies. In such situation, public voice is of great significance in the formulation and implementation of coping policies. This qualitive study uses China’s Health Code policy under COVID-19 to explore why the public performs voice behavior on social media and how this influences policy evolution and product innovation through cooperative governance. A stimulus-cognition-emotion-behavior model is established to explain public voice, indicating that it is influenced by cognitive processes and public emotions under policy stimulus. What is more, as a form of public participation in cooperative governance, public voice plays a significant role in promoting policy evolution and product innovation, and represents a useful form of cooperation with governments and enterprises to jointly maintain social stability under public health emergencies

Engagement of Government Social Media on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao

“…Social media posts allow the public to understand the community efforts spent in the outbreak. Echoing the call from Yang and Su [ 77 ], we argue that government social media can be used for creating a positive sentiment against the pandemic and bringing communities together.…”

Can social media data be used to evaluate the risk of human interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…In particular, social media can promote preventive hygiene intention. Yang and Sun [ 14 ] investigated China’s Health Code policy under the COVID-19 pandemic to explore why the public performs voice on social media. Their study showed that the public voice plays a critical role in developing policies and represents cooperation between the government and the businesses to maintain social stability.…”

Can Social Media Data Be Utilized to Enhance Early Warning: Retrospective Analysis of the U.S. Covid-19 Pandemic

“…This reveals importance in the pandemic outbreaks. Yang and Sun investigated the health policy under COVID-19 and discussed how the role of public voice on social media can help the government to promote policy evolution [25]. Abrams and Greenhawt manifested that one possible way to ensure appropriate risk communication amid the COVID-19 pandemic is using social media channels to provide an ongoing and consistent media presence [26].…”