Use of WeChat to gratify information needs of the Chinese community in Portugal during the COVID-19 outbreak

Observatorio (OBS*) Pub Date : 2022-12-30 DOI:10.15847/obsobs16420222184

Cheng Cheng, Rita Espanha

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Abstract

[Objectives] This paper seeks to characterize the main themes of COVID-19-related posts delivered by WeChat official accounts targeting Portuguese news, and explore the information needs and preferences of their users. Furthermore, the current study set out to evaluate the influence of coronavirus situation in Portugal on the number of posts, view frequency and total engagement on WeChat platforms. [Methods] Following the selection of COVID-19-related posts published in 2021 by four official accounts targeting Portuguese news, Chi-square tests were conducted to quantitively describe the differences between the four developmental stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. Negative binominal regression was employed to establish an association between category variables and count data. Regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between COVID-19 infection cases in Portugal and the metrics of selected posts. [Results] A total of 3292 COVID-19-related posts remained. The posts regarding the latest epidemic situation in Portugal, COVID-19 vaccination and the economic news were more prevalent. However, the predominant posts were not consistent with followers’ information demands, and the most in demand information did not generate more engagement. In addition, thematic categories were found to be significantly associated with view frequency and total engagement. Furthermore, a significant difference in thematic categories was identified among the four developmental stages, which in turn was found to be related to the overall engagement of posts. The COVID-19 official case counts in Portugal is predictive of post frequency, view frequency and total engagement. [Conclusions] The results of this study support the view that social media provided diverse information sources for migrants during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is evidently clear from the findings that communicators have to leverage the characteristics of social media, not only for delivering real-time news, but also to gratify public information needs and attract more users.

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新冠肺炎疫情期间，利用微信满足葡萄牙华人社区的信息需求

【目的】对微信葡萄牙新闻公众号发布的新冠疫情相关帖子进行主题分析，探索用户的信息需求和偏好。此外，本研究旨在评估葡萄牙冠状病毒疫情对微信平台上的帖子数量、观看频率和总参与度的影响。【方法】选取4个葡萄牙新闻公众号在2021年发布的与COVID-19相关的帖子，进行卡方检验，定量描述葡萄牙COVID-19大流行四个发展阶段的差异。采用负二项回归建立类别变量与计数数据之间的关联。采用回归分析探讨葡萄牙COVID-19感染病例与选定岗位指标之间的关系。【结果】新增新冠肺炎相关岗位3292个。关于葡萄牙最新疫情、新冠疫苗接种和经济新闻的帖子更为普遍。然而，占主导地位的帖子与关注者的信息需求并不一致，最受欢迎的信息并没有产生更多的参与。此外，主题类别被发现与观看频率和总参与度显著相关。此外，在四个发展阶段之间确定了主题类别的重大差异，而这又发现与员额的全面参与有关。葡萄牙的COVID-19官方病例数可预测后频率、查看频率和总参与度。[结论]本研究结果支持社交媒体为正在进行的COVID-19大流行期间的移民提供多种信息来源的观点。然而，从调查结果中可以明显看出，传播者必须利用社交媒体的特点，不仅要提供实时新闻，还要满足公众的信息需求，吸引更多的用户。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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