The Construction Of Government Image In Social Media Communication Channels

As a systematic and dynamic work,government image building is not only reflected in the government’s daily social management,but also has great significance in safeguarding and enhancing the government’s credibility,leadership and authority in crisis response.In the response to the COVID-19 pandemic,the government’s work is received and perceived by the public through various communication channels,and the dissemination of these contents will further influence the public’s evaluation of the government’s work and its image,in addition to the original information value.Compared with other media,social media is the most interactive and the most rapid in terms of information flow,and it is an important channel for the Chinese government to disclose and release information,which plays a significant role in the dissemination of government information and the positive construction of government image.Based on this,this research places the path of government image construction in the context of the public health event of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the meso level.After collecting official government information and other popular information related to the epidemic on different social media platforms,we systematically analyzed the information dissemination channels of the government in the existing social media by using online text analysis and case study method.We analyzed how the government uses social media to construct its own image and the innovative strategies of social media communication channels to achieve positive government image construction.The research found that in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic,the Chinese government disseminated information to the public through four mainstream social media platforms,namely We Chat,Weibo,Tik Tok,and Bilibili,with different characteristics,showing a general pattern of ‘government accounts as the main body,official media echoing each other,and online bloggers supplementing each other’.In terms of image construction,the government’s official communication force in various social media platforms,including the official We Chat public platform of the health system,the official Weibo of the government system,the Tik Tok account of mainstream media,and the Bilibili account of group organizations,etc.,through the main content of policy propaganda,epidemic prevention achievement report,and advanced characters’ deeds portrayal,the image of modern government is shaped with people-oriented,excellent technology,willing to dedicate,and good spirit.However,the current government’s utilization of communication channel resources is not systematic and sufficient,with government account channels at all levels to be sorted out and civil communication channels to be integrated,while there is also room for optimization of crisis management and communication mechanisms at the macro system level.From the interactive data of the content samples in this study,the effective development and utilization of social media communication channels can become an important force for the government to carry out information dissemination and image building.Finally,based on the results of the study,the author also proposes targeted suggestions for the Chinese government to achieve positive construction of its own image through social media from the perspectives of think tank construction,government account cluster construction,and private communication resources exploration,in order to achieve innovation and optimization of communication strategies.