Dongxiang Zhao, Qiping Zhang and Feicheng Ma
Online health communities (OHCs) are attracting more and more healthy consumers, including patients, their families, caregivers and the general public. This paper aims to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Online health communities (OHCs) are attracting more and more healthy consumers, including patients, their families, caregivers and the general public. This paper aims to explore the themes and characteristics of patient-generated content (PGC) in Chinese OHCs.
Design/methodology/approach
Baidu Tieba for hypertension was selected as the research site. Online ethnography (netnography) approach was utilized to explore the PGC and health communication in the online hypertension community. The final database included 300 randomly sampled threads and their 3,187 reply posts and was further analyzed from three perspectives: health information needs, attitudes and psychological reactions to hypertension and social support exchange.
Findings
The members' health information needs were mainly concentrated on five aspects: causes, symptoms, measuring instrument, tests and diagnosis and treatment. Their attitudes and psychological reactions to hypertension varied with the context, for example, disease stage, health condition. Within the health communication, three types of social support – information support, emotional support and network support – were generated, transmitted and exchanged among members.
Practical implications
OHCs are able to serve as important source of health information and tool for health education. The implications and suggestions for health promotion of individuals, health information services optimization of OHCs and national health strategy plans were also discussed.
Originality/value
This is the first netnography study in information field on Chinese online hypertension community. This study provides a new perspective to explore the needs, attitudes and social support behaviors of Chinese hypertension population and also enables the Chinese experience of using OHCs to reduce health disparities to come to the world.
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Dongxiang Zhao, Qiping Zhang and Feicheng Ma
The purpose of this paper is to investigate eldercare issues in China through exploring what was discussed about eldercare in a Chinese online community for older adults (OCOA).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate eldercare issues in China through exploring what was discussed about eldercare in a Chinese online community for older adults (OCOA).
Design/methodology/approach
Netnography was used to explore eldercare-related online discussion in a Chinese OCOA – LaoYouBang. After a two-month-long online observation, 275 microblogs and 594 comments were collected and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively.
Findings
The main findings include as follows: the users involved in an online discussion about eldercare were consist of four categories, namely, elderly user, non-elderly user, advertiser and community administrator. Non-elderly user include the elderly’s caregivers and families, young and middle-aged people concerning about eldercare. From 2012 to 2017, eldercare issues gradually became refined and differentiated in China and elderly users’ contribution proportion and activeness increased yearly. According to the results of thematic analysis, users’ information needs for eldercare included opinion, news, practice, emotion, knowledge and others. In China, some changes have taken place in the public’s conceptions of eldercare, embodied in the changes in the public’s attention, attitudes and cognition. Changes in user structure and communication patterns in OCOA have also been noted. OCOA plays an important role in eldercare information dissemination and social support exchange and helps to meet the eldercare challenges.
Originality/value
This study explored an online community for older adults. This is the first netnography study in the information field on Chinese OCOA. This paper provides new perspectives to explore eldercare issues and OCOA in other regions and cultures and it also provides some suggestions to improve OCOA.
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This study employs bibliometric analysis to map the research landscape of social media trending topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors aim to offer a comprehensive…
Abstract
Purpose
This study employs bibliometric analysis to map the research landscape of social media trending topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors aim to offer a comprehensive review of the predominant research organisations and countries, key themes and favoured research methodologies pertinent to this subject.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors extracted data on social media trending topics from the Web of Science Core Collection database, spanning from 2009 to 2022. A total of 1,504 publications were subjected to bibliometric analysis, utilising the VOSviewer tool. The study analytical process encompassed co-occurrence, co-authorship, citation analysis, field mapping, bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis.
Findings
Interest in social media research, particularly on trending topics during the COVID-19 pandemic, remains high despite signs of the pandemic stabilising globally. The study predominantly addresses misinformation and public health communication, with notable focus on interactions between governments and the public. Recent studies have concentrated on analysing Twitter user data through text mining, sentiment analysis and topic modelling. The authors also identify key leading organisations, countries and journals that are central to this research area.
Originality/value
Diverging from the narrow focus of previous literature reviews on social media, which are often confined to particular fields or sectors, this study offers a broad view of social media's role, emphasising trending topics. The authors demonstrate a significant link between social media trends and public events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper discusses research priorities that emerged during the pandemic and outlines potential methodologies for future studies, advocating for a greater emphasis on qualitative approaches.
Peer review
The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2023-0194.
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Wonders whether, owing to severely restricted access, China’s government policy towards digital communications will remain in a constant state of flux – or will it gain economic…
Abstract
Wonders whether, owing to severely restricted access, China’s government policy towards digital communications will remain in a constant state of flux – or will it gain economic benefits without a social penalty? Concludes that China has to link the forces of change to channel and deflect domestic resistance.
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The purpose of this paper is to extend current knowledge by focusing on three geographic factors (minority-Han residential segregation, rural-urban disparities and regional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend current knowledge by focusing on three geographic factors (minority-Han residential segregation, rural-urban disparities and regional differences) and their effects on educational and occupational outcomes of Chinese ethnic minorities from 2000 to 2010.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from the 2000 and 2010 Chinese decennial censuses were used, and both descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted.
Findings
Results revel that there were regional differences in terms of educational segregation between minorities and the Han. It was also difficult for minority groups that were residentially segregated from the Han and mainly located in rural areas or western/southeastern regions to obtain high-level education. When minority groups were residentially segregated from the Han, they tended to have higher levels of occupational segregation from the Han; while minority groups with larger percentages of rural residents tended to have smaller percentages of people obtained high-status occupations. Despite China’s rapid social and economic development, ethnic disparities in education did not significantly change, and ethnic gaps in occupational attainment were widened from 2000 to 2010.
Social implications
Geographic sources of ethnic conflicts in China should not be overlooked, and future researchers should also conduct studies on Chinese ethnic minorities at individual or household level.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature in two major ways: first, all Chinese minority groups were included in the analyses to clarify intra-ethnic differences; second, data from two Chinese decennial censuses and longitudinal statistical modeling were used to investigate the effect of time on ethnic stratification.
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Xuwei Jin, Shize Huang, Xiaowen Liu, Jing Zhou, Jinzhe Qin, Decun Dong and Xingying Li
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) on communication systems of unban rail transit can hardly be clarified because of complicated factors around railways. This paper aims to target…
Abstract
Purpose
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) on communication systems of unban rail transit can hardly be clarified because of complicated factors around railways. This paper aims to target this issue and extend experimental and theoretical analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper take the Nanjing Dashengguan Bridge as an example, because it carries the most tracks in the world and bears three kinds of trains running through, providing a perfect complex environment. First, it investigates the three communication systems, terrestrial trunked radio, communications-based train control (CBTC) and passenger information system (PIS) that Nanjing Metro uses, and select appropriate devices accordingly. Second, it establishes a system level platform and conduct three tests to analyze their respective operating principles and performance difference under common electromagnetic environments. Third, it adopts theoretical formula to verify test results.
Findings
The experiment results and theoretical analysis mutually corroborate each other and present practical recommendations: an 8 m or more distance between two tracks will ensure no obvious EMI created by a passing train on communication systems; two certain communication systems should not share the same frequency band; interference level is more related to field strength than weathers and building materials; and CBTC DSSS waveguide mode as well as PIS LTE mode are preferred.
Originality/value
This research also provides a practical method of investigating EMI for other complex situations.
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Mamdouh Abdelmoula M. Abdelsalam
This study explores the relevance of education in reducing poverty in Egypt's rural and urban areas.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the relevance of education in reducing poverty in Egypt's rural and urban areas.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies the logistic model to Analyse Household Income Expenditure survey data.
Findings
The results indicate that spending on education in urban regions is higher than in rural areas. Second, the percentage of illiteracy in rural areas is higher than in urban areas. Third, educational spending is significantly inversely related to poverty across various geographical regions of Egypt. Fourthly, the more educated the head of the family is, the less likely the family is to fall into poverty. Finally, the potential for education to alleviate poverty in rural areas is more significant than in urban regions of Egypt.
Research limitations/implications
The suggested approach should be applied on data from different countries.
Practical implications
The paper suggests worthy policy recommendations for policy makers in Egypt.
Social implications
Results of the study worthy as it emphases the role of education in the society.
Originality/value
Based on microdata analysis, the study compares the potential role of education in combating poverty in Egypt's urban and rural areas. Thus, it can be used as a decision-support tool for policymakers.