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Who Can Help Me? Citizens’ Help-Seeking on Weibo During the Shanghai Lockdown

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2025

Difan Guo Open the ORCID record for Difan Guo [Opens in a new window] ,
Shaoqiang Liu Open the ORCID record for Shaoqiang Liu [Opens in a new window]  and
Yao Sun Open the ORCID record for Yao Sun [Opens in a new window]
Difan Guo
Affiliation:
School of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Shaoqiang Liu
Affiliation:
School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Yao Sun*
Affiliation:
School of Journalism and Communication, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
*
Corresponding author: Yao Sun; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

In the context of the Omicron-induced lockdown in Shanghai, this paper investigated the appeals for assistance by citizens on Weibo, aiming to understand their principal challenges and immediate needs.

Methods

This paper collected Weibo posts (N = 1040) containing the keyword “Shanghai Anti-epidemic Help” during the citywide lockdown. The online help requests from Shanghai citizens were analyzed across 7 dimensions, including the help sought, level of urgency, help recipient, the intended beneficiary of the help, expression, position, and emotion.

Results

The study found that the most common requests for assistance were related to social isolation, specifically in the areas of home and community (34.81%), isolation (10.86%), and personal freedom (7.31%). Of all help requests, 11.83% were deemed very urgent. Most of the Weibo posts sent out a plea for help to Internet users (56.06%), primarily requesting help for themselves (26.25%) or their families (27.60%).

Conclusions

The study found that personal freedom, food, and medical care were the most frequently sought help from the public, and most of the public’s positions and emotions were pessimistic. The relevant findings revealed the public’s needs and status during the city closure, providing a reference for emergency preparedness in public health events or emergencies.

Keywords

online help-seekingChinasocial mediapublic healthcontent analysis
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e329
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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