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. 2022 Mar 18:8:20552076221085061.
doi: 10.1177/20552076221085061. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

What makes an online help-seeking message go far during the COVID-19 crisis in mainland China? A multilevel regression analysis

Anfan Chen  1 , Aaron Ng  2 , Yipeng Xi  3 , Yong Hu  4
Affiliations

What makes an online help-seeking message go far during the COVID-19 crisis in mainland China? A multilevel regression analysis

Anfan Chen et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Various studies have explored the underlying mechanisms that enhance the overall reach of a support-seeking message on social media networks. However, little attention has been paid to an under-examined structural feature of help-seeking message diffusion, information diffusion depth, and how support-seeking messages can traverse vertically into social media networks to reach other users who are not directly connected to the help-seeker. Using the multilevel regression to analyze 705 help-seeking posts regarding COVID-19 on Sina Weibo, we examined sender, content, and environmental factors to investigate what makes help-seeking messages traverse deeply into social media networks. Results suggested that bandwagon cues, anger, instrumental appeal, and intermediate self-disclosure facilitate the diffusion depth of help-seeking messages. However, the effects of these factors were moderated by the epidemic severity. Implications of the findings on support-seeking behavior and narrative strategies on social media were also discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; depth; help-seeking; heuristic-systematic model; information diffusion.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest :The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The interaction effect between the credibility cue and the severity of the situation (SOS).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The interaction effect between post emotion and the severity of the situation (SOS).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
The interaction effect between the type of self-disclosure and the severity of the situation (SOS).
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
An example of information diffusion and key measures. In this example, the diffusion size is 11, diffusion breadth is 4, and depth is 4.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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