Research on Chinese social media users’ communication behaviors during public emergency events

Abstract In recent years, China has been in a period of social transition. Public emergency events have occurred frequently, and social media have developed rapidly. Social media users in China not only represent traditional audiences but also play an increasingly important role in crisis communication during public emergency events by expressing their views, discussing events with others and sharing information both online and offline. According to national telephone survey data from China, nearly two-thirds of the respondents engaged in communication behaviors during public emergency events, and more than forty percent of those users communicated by social media. Hundreds of millions of Chinese social media users are becoming the driving force of the public opinion field. To better understand social media users’ online information dissemination behaviors and influencing factors, we developed the hierarchical logistic regression model and observed that demographic variables (gender and age), social media use, people’s concerns regarding public emergencies and people’s need to monitor the government’s performance during public emergencies significantly influence online information dissemination behaviors. Our study has practical significance and academic value for understanding the online public opinion field and online political participation in China.