Social Media: New Trends in Emergency Information

Abstract

At the end of 2019, during the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese government and media used social media extensively to release emergency information. Once this information was released, it immediately attracted significant public attention. This study used a questionnaire survey to determine social media users’ habits during the COVID-19 outbreak. The results indicated that in the case of community closure during sudden public health events, the majority of respondents use social media to obtain information to understand the development trends of an epidemic, the government’s emergency strategy, scientific epidemic prevention knowledge, and accurate information. Based on the survey results, this study considers the value of social media for emergency information, which is both a tool and a new trend in information dissemination in the context of emergencies.