Research On The Public Network Participation In The Risk Communication Of Major Epidemic

At present,our country is in the dual transformation stage of the combination of institutional transformation and development transformation.Social conflicts,rich-poor inequality,environmental destruction and other contradictions are complicated and intertwined.Risk phenomena such as economic imbalance and social disorder occur from time to time.Public health emergencies are the source of social risks;the complexity,urgency and uncertainty have put forward new requirements for risk response and governance in the transition period,which has given birth to the emergence of legitimate and effective risk governance methods,risk communication came into being.From the perspective of theory and practice,risk communication has become an important way for our society to deal with risks.It emphasizes two-way dialogue and the interaction between communication subjects.It can be seen that citizen participation is the key factor to ensure the good effect of risk communication.At the same time,the internet-based cyberspace provides a convenient and immediate platform for citizen participation in risk communication.However,this platform only provides the possibility of citizen network participation,and cannot effectively guarantee that citizen can participate in a rational and orderly manner.Ignoring the importance of citizen network participation will cause risk communication to return to traditional habits.As a result,the main communication subjects cannot reach agreements.Unanimous opinions,contradictions and conflicts continue to intensify,which in turn causes a series of problems in risk management and governance.Therefore,it is very important to explore how citizens use network platform to participate in risk communication,and what factors will affect citizens’ network participation.The COVID-19 outbreak in late December 2019 is considered a public health emergency caused by a major infectious disease.The outbreak of the epidemic has had a great impact on the lives and mental health of citizens.Due to the strong infectivity of COVID-19 virus,all provinces in China have adopted corresponding prevention and quarantine measures.People need to stay at home for a long time,and network platform has become the main places for citizens to receive information and express opinions.However,during the COVID-19 epidemic,the rapidly changing citizen topics and the rapidly changing epidemic hot spots intermingled and amplified in cyberspace.The generalization of information easily makes citizen predict the future quickly from waitand-see to worry,which led to a series of irrational participation behaviors and affected social stability.Therefore,under the background of major epidemic situation,it is an urgent requirement for the government to improve its communication ability to guide the rational development of citizen network participation and to construct a new communication relationship of benign interaction.This study comprehensively adopts literature research,content analysis,investigation research,and quantitative research,taking 1165 citizens from 26 provinces as examples to conduct in-depth discussion on the behavior characteristics and influencing factors of citizen network participation in the communication of major epidemic risk.It can be divided into four parts: First,using Cite Space5.7.R4 analysis software to visualize the research on citizen network participation at home and abroad,to understand the current research situation and the trend of scholars,and to determine the research direction.Second,the core concepts of risk,risk communication and citizen network participation are expounded;draw on the theory of use and satisfaction,risk communication theory,and risk perception theory,and according to the actual development of our country,citizen network participation is divided into four dimensions: silent participation,group polarization participation,emotional participation and fanatical participation.This study puts forward the research hypothesis and constructs the structural equation model of citizen network participation in the risk communication of major epidemic situation from three aspects: risk,communication and individual,compiles the questionnaire and carries on the sample survey.Third,through sorting and analyzing the data collected from the field survey,SPSS22.0 and AMOS24.0 statistical software were used for data analysis to verify the research hypothesis and conceptual model.Fourth,based on the research results,countermeasures and suggestions are put forward to guide citizen network participation in a rational way.The study found that epidemic risk perception,epidemic risk communication and personal characteristics affect citizen network participation positively,and epidemic risk characteristics and communication satisfaction affect citizen network participation negatively.Epidemic risk perception played a partial mediating role in the relationship between epidemic characteristics and citizen network participation.Communication satisfaction played a partial mediating role in the relationship between risk communication and citizen network participation.Besides,personal characteristics can moderate the mediating effect of epidemic risk perception on the relationship between epidemic risk characteristics and citizen network participation.Personal characteristics can moderate the relationship between epidemic risk communication and citizen network participation.In view of this,this study proposes that we should improve scientific literacy in multiple ways and the spirit of anti-epidemic should be promoted in an all-round way;grasp the situation of risk perception in time and effectively control the risk perception rebound;innovate the three elements of risk communication and build a solid foundation of mutual trust between officials and the people;and meet the expectations of citizen participation and improve communication satisfaction.It is of great practical significance and theoretical value to promote citizens to establish reasonable and healthy network participation behavior intention,to create a good network participation environment,and to promote the level of government public management.