Where do people get news?
In the past, people got news from the newspaper or television. Now I think most people get news via their mobile phones. Ifs possible to get news on Weibo, the biggest social networking platform in China. Ifs also possible to get news on the WeChat official accounts, which push news to your phone. I think young people browse Weibo more often, and the older generation are more likely to read articles on WeChat.
What kind of news do people like to read? Why?
I think most people would click open news with headlines that are eye-catching. For instance, the articles entitled ”Shocking! If you don’t do this, then…,^ are most likely to be read by older people and shared by them to others as well. On top of this kind of news, I think girls enjoy reading entertainment- related news better, while guys enjoy tech-related news. We are all concerned with health and breaking international news as well.
How can companies tell the public its news? On the internet or through press conference?
Now they have a great many means to tell the public its news. They can open up a Weibo official account. They can also register a public WeChat account for the company. Ifs faster to inform the public news via the Internet, because information travels so quickly nowadays. You don‘t have time for press conferences if something bad happens to your company and you need to explain fast to minimize the losses.
What do you think of the news on social media?
I think you must look at news on social media with an open mind and a critical mindset. Of course, they are not all accurate. In fact, many of them are fake news just to get public interest. While news on social media travels fast, you have to pick out the essence from among all the garbage, and that is perhaps not so easy to do. So, news on social media, as I said, couldn’t be taken too seriously, unless published by authorized official accounts. Don5t believe everything you see.