How Facebook Mediated COVID-19 Risk Communication: Evidence from Chinese External Media During the Winter Olympics

With the widespread adoption of social media worldwide, countries are increasingly using these platforms to manage potential risks and disseminate their content. This study examines the communication effectiveness of six Chinese external media outlets on Facebook during the Winter Olympics, focusing on their COVID-19 coverage. Using structural equation modelling, we analysed how information presentation and dialogue intervention impacted communication effectiveness. The results indicated that scientific risk description, effective risk information dissemination, and heightened risk awareness in information presentation, as well as dialogue expansion in dialogue intervention, significantly enhanced the communication effectiveness of Facebook. However, dialogic contraction had no significant effect. Technical functionality mediated the relationship between information presentation and communication effectiveness but did not show a significant mediating effect for dialogic intervention. Achieving optimal communication outcomes through social media requires a comprehensive consideration of contextual and motivational factors.