Research On Wechat Use And Risk Perception Of Shanghai Residents’ Under COVID-19

According to sociologist Ulrich,modern society has become a “risk society”.In this society,not only obvious environmental risks,but also potential risks are a major threat.The December 2019 outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia(also known as COVID-19)has become a global public health event.Since then,the world public has experienced varying degrees of severe psychological stress and mood swings.Therefore,a risk assessment of public health events is necessary..Firstly,this article investigates the usage methods and intensity of We Chat among Shanghai residents,and specifically investigates the three We Chat usage methods of We Chat official account,We Chat group chat and circle of friends,and We Chat “peerto-peer” social interaction,as well as the daily usage time and frequency of We Chat.,and statistically analyzed the risk perception caused by different We Chat use methods and intensities,and explored the degree of perception and the difference in perception.Based on the review and analysis of the above literature,this article puts forward the hypothesis that the use of We Chat affects Shanghai residents’ perception of the risk of COVID-19,and establishes the main influencing factors of the risk perception of COVID-19: We Chat usage and usage intensity.The relationship between risk perception and variance of COVID-19 was explored.From the perspective of perception,the way of using We Chat and the time of using it are positively correlated with the risk perception of Shanghai residents,and the risk perception brought about by different ways of using We Chat is slightly different.Relatively speaking,the risk perception brought about by using the We Chat official account The weakest,the risk perception brought by We Chat group chat and circle of friends is in the middle,and the risk perception brought by We Chat “peer-to-peer” social interaction is the strongest.The study found that women have a higher risk perception of COVID-19 than men,and high-income groups have a higher risk perception than low-income groups;from the perspective of education,low-education groups have higher risk perceptions than high-education groups;from the perspective of age,the 18-25-year-old group and the36-45-year-old group will have higher risk perception than the 26-35-year-old group,and Shanghai locals will have a higher risk perception than non-locals.As the direct carrier of risk perception,only by grasping the public’s risk perception of COVID-19 epidemic can we gain recognition and enhance trust in this type of risk communication,thereby providing a theoretical basis and experience reference for the risk management and control of public health emergencies in the future.At the same time,it can also provide a more positive basis for adjusting the public’s risk perception.