Texting in a crisis—using SMS for information and emotional support during COVID-19: A mixed methods research study

Abstract

In the era of new media, short message service (SMS) is no longer seen as advantageous and it is no longer used very much by the Chinese public. However, as a traditional media, local governments managing public health crises used SMS as a way of meeting the public's need for emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study examined 108 SMS texts pushed to phones in Chongqing between January and December 2020, and carried out in-depth interviews with ten interviewees. This mixed research method of descriptive and grounded theory analysis was designed to investigate how SMS was used to communicate prevention guidelines and give emotional support during COVID-19. The results show that Chongqing Municipal Health and Health Commission gained the public's attention with SMS messages consisting of neutral, objective advice, and guidance to reduce people's anxiety and panic. However, with the stabilization of COVID-19, SMS has once again been discarded by users, including the public health sector. The study found that the emotional support offered by SMS was limited to the elderly, a subset of the population considered to be weak users of the internet. SMS has been replaced by other technologies, but along with other media, such as official media and social media, it has shaped the media communication environment and served as an emotional support channel for the public. Undoubtedly,the use of SMS during COVID-19 presents a research opportunity for exploring its capacity for prevention, control and emotional support.

Publicity governance in contingency management during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A “Government-Society” perspective

“…Meanwhile, in China's huge rural areas, rural leaders carry out effective publicity through radio [55], and to help farmers participate in government. In less developed areas, modern media means have become the main means of publicity during the COVID-19 pandemic [7,18,20], however, in areas with weak information infrastructure, publicity forms such as short messages and radio can significantly improve the information perception effect of "individuals with limited Internet access" [56]. Therefore, during the pandemic in China, the logic of realizing effective publicity governance under emergency management can also be understood as an interactive logic: in the whole process, firstly, we need the government to make comprehensive use of modern and traditional publicity tools; secondly, the government should give corresponding rights and responsibilities to grass-roots villages and community organizations, and incorporate them into diversified actions; and lastly, in accordance with the principle of orderly dissemination, it should vigorously promote their social actions in coordination with the state's requirements and governmental behaviors.…”