[summary] weibo has played an active role in making public information about the government, leading public opinion, serving the public, and engaging the public in politics. However, after all, political microblogging is new, and there are still problems in terms of management systems, operational mechanisms, mechanisms for interaction, etc., and there is a need to strengthen research and analysis on these issues and to identify responses to them。
Government policy
D621
Since its inception in 2009, weibo has become an important source of information and has had a tremendous impact. The role of microblogging has been brought to the attention of the relevant government departments, and in the second half of 2009 we witnessed the emergence of microblogging in government, innovations in the means of social governance of government, satisfaction of the right of all segments of society to be informed about government affairs and increased transparency and broad social acceptance of government in the governance of society. Political microblogging is also playing an increasingly important role in the public management of society with the advantages of real time, speed, transparency, authority, openness and interaction. How to better serve and interact with the people and how to address the problems that have arisen in the governance function of the government is an important task that needs to be addressed urgently。
The current issue of the microblogging function of our government
First, there is a lack of a sound management system. With the gradual spread of microblogging in our country, most government institutions at all levels have established their own microblogging windows and, accordingly, the management system for microblogging in government. For example, in guangdong province, regulations have been drawn up for the official management of microblogging in case of emergencies, the people's court of shenzhen city has introduced its own microblogging management, the city of tianjin has developed a pilot management scheme for the management of the official authority of microblogging, and the new wave has developed an assessment management scheme for the management of microblogging in politics. While many government departments have developed governance approaches to microblogging, they are often not sufficiently robust and well developed, except for theoretical descriptions of assessment approaches, organizational management, etc。
Secondly, there is a lack of well-developed mechanisms for interaction. At present, there are government departments and agencies that are operating on twitter only to meet the requirements of their superiors or to meet the requirements of the performance appraisals. There is clearly a lack of in-depth awareness of the interactive nature of twitter, and a lack of a set of mechanisms for interaction, leaving it simply to publish some information and not to process the comments and referrals of the people. At the same time, even some political microblogging and some interaction among the population has resulted in inefficient interactions due to the negative impact of the dissemination of microblogging, its frequency, etc. Thus, in the overall context of our government, the necessary interaction mechanisms are lacking. In addition, a number of leadership cadres dared new attempts to launch their own microblogging and to communicate directly with a wide range of internet users on it. However, there are other leaders who, fearing to speak wrongly, perpetuate the silence of individual microblogging, fail to respond in the first time to the followers of the internet, and fail to interact well with the general public。
Thirdly, there is a lack of operational mechanisms for the system. The primary role of the microblogging operational mechanism is to improve the factors affecting management efficiency and quality in the management process, while at the same time reconciling the interlinkages between the various components of the management process and between the systems, thereby increasing the responsiveness of the government to change and enabling it to function efficiently. There is a problem with both content and language in the operational aspects of political microblogging, which needs to be improved, mainly with regard to rigid content and poor language style. In addition, the lack of the necessary networking mechanisms in the operational mechanisms, the lack of effective coordination and linkages between the various departments and agencies, and the fragmentation of political microblogging, have resulted in the repetition of certain messages and, in some cases, contradictory ones. On-line, there is also a lack of necessary coordination mechanisms for the operation of the political microblogging。
In terms of operational modalities, there is also the problem of focusing on quantity over quality. Part of the government's leadership has set up microblogging only for fashionable reasons, or simply for top-level accountability, with little attention paid to how it is managed in order to play its proper role. This has led the leadership to focus only on the number of microblogging fans and the number of messages that are distributed, while less attention has been paid to how to operate and maintain good-government and to improve the efficiency and quality of the operations of microblogging, making it an empty forum。
Fourthly, service functions are not sufficiently developed. The government has many functions and functions, but the government has not fully developed its services. There are shortcomings in the government's in-depth and effective development of the management and development of the government's microblogging team, information dissemination services, the operation of the government's microblogging platform and the use of new web technologies and big data。
Fifth, there is not enough internationalization. In the united states, the relevant government departments have used more than a dozen languages to post information on twitter to facilitate communication among the people of various countries around the world; chinese weibo has also been launched by embassies in china, using chinese weibo to inform their own countries and interact with the chinese people on weibo. However, the foreign languages of government agencies and departments are less well-developed and the dissemination of information is not sufficiently internationalized。
A strategy to improve the governance function of our government
Establishment of a normative management system. The establishment of a normative system of government microblogging requires adherence to systematic, comprehensive and rule-of-law norms and refinements of the system of microblogging in accordance with the principles and lines of thinking of the rule of law. In the process of regulating and improving the management of microblogging, the relevant government departments must establish policies and management systems that are consistent with the laws and regulations, that is to say, adhere to the principles of microblogging legislation, promote the regularization of the system of microblogging management, make it more rule of law-based, and make microblogging of government work in accordance with the law. The establishment of a standardized system of government microblogging, which will first strengthen organizational leadership, establish a responsible leadership organization dedicated to issues related to the organization, assign responsibility to the staff concerned from a practical point of view, and take measures to fully motivate staff, strengthen solidarity among staff and thus improve the efficiency and quality of the operations of the organization; and, secondly, strengthen the establishment of a system for collecting, approving, publishing and interacting with information on the organization, establishing a system of microblogging, a system of critical incident management and a system of monitoring in order to ensure real-time, authoritative and genuine performance; and, lastly, a systematic and comprehensive operational and appraisal mechanism for the effective functioning of the organization。
Establishment of mechanisms for interaction under normal conditions. To ensure that microblogging is interactive at all times, first of all, by implementing a duty system, with a 24-hour rotation, in order to keep it interactive, and also by organizing regular maintenance of microblogging at all times and ensuring that people are on duty at all times. Second, in order to ensure that the microblogging interaction takes place at all times, web-enabled facilities are available for the relevant staffing, so that the web site is available online to provide timely responses to networked questions and requests, and to facilitate the timely handling of emergencies. Finally, the time and number of tweets are maintained, usually between 9 a. M. And 12 p. M., and between 6 and 15 times a day。
Establishment of specialized operational mechanisms. First of all, the operationalization of microblogging is the exclusive responsibility of people with professional qualifications. In the first place, they need to be familiar with the operating rules of microblogging and have a deep understanding of the new media; they need to be familiar with the characteristics and patterns of internet transmission; they need to have a certain intellectual and political awareness, a sense of responsibility and a general vision; and they need to be able to analyse and identify, respond and communicate. Second, the operational development of the political microblogging teams needs to be strengthened and their operational level enhanced. Finally, dedicated groups with a clear division of labour, such as photo groups, video panels, etc., should be established。
Continuous upgrading of services. Weibo has to remain committed to the idea of serving the people and constantly innovate the way in which services are delivered and upgrade their level of service. Weibo is not only a window and platform for publishing information, but also a tool for serving the public and for the government to understand the public opinion. It is imperative that the government's microblogging be a powerful means of claiming the interests of the people and reflecting social issues, that it be an important source of information resources and that it provide a substantial amount of real and effective data for the government to develop policies and address the livelihood of its people, all of which depend on the government's microblogging constantly raising its level of service to better serve the people and government。
Increased internationalization. In order to increase the level of internationalization of political matters, attention should be paid to international integration and cooperation should be sought with the media abroad, with a view to informing foreign citizens about the country's situation, its tourism resources and so forth, and with a view to enhancing the internationalization of our affairs。
In conclusion, the government's microblogging is an innovative means of social governance, a concrete expression of the party's idea of people-centred governance and of people-to-people governance, all of which play a significant role in increasing transparency and access to public opinion. Governments at all levels need to give due attention to the role of political microblogging in the governance function of government and to take proactive responses to the problems emerging in the development of government microblogging。
(all authors are associate professors at the party school of the communist party of china.)
