Being all ears to netizens: Information disclosure in Chinese police notifications on Weibo
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/2184-9781_6_4Keywords:
police notifications, social media, Discourse Information Theory, interconnectedness, information disclosureAbstract
Drawing on Discourse Information Theory (Du, 2014) and Rhizomatic Theory (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987), this study investigates how may Chinese police departments better respond to netizens' queries when issuing notifications on Weibo. Three research questions guide this inquiry: a) What are the information features of police notifications? b) What types of information do netizens expect from police notifications? c) How could police departments improve police notifications by addressing netizens' queries? To answer these questions, a corpus of 30 influential police notifications and their ensuing comments on Weibo was collected and analyzed. This study concludes that in the digital age, the vitality of law is contingent upon its integration into interconnected legal and social practices. Law enforcement officers and netizens jointly shape the legal discourse, thereby influencing how information is shared and developed. This collaborative dynamic underscores the importance of transparent and responsive communication in fostering public trust and effective law enforcement.
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