This research aims to capture the interplay between risk perception and social media posting through a case study of COVID-19 in Wuhan to support risk response and decision making. Dividing users on Sina Weibo into the government, the media, the public, and other users, we address two main research questions: Whose posting affects risk perception and vice versa? How do different categories of social media users’ posts affect risk perception and vice versa? We use Granger causality analysis and impulse response functions to answer the research questions. The results show that from one perspective, the government and the media on Sina Weibo play critical roles in forming and affecting risk perceptions. From another perspective, risk perception promotes the posting of the media and the public on Sina Weibo. Since government’s posting and media’s posting can significantly enhance the public’s perceptions of risk issues, the government and the media must remain vigilant to provide credible risk-related information.

中文翻译：

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捕捉风险感知与社交媒体发布之间的相互作用，以支持风险响应和决策

本研究旨在通过武汉市COVID-19案例研究来捕捉风险感知与社交媒体发布之间的相互作用，以支持风险应对和决策制定。将新浪微博上的用户划分为政府，媒体，公众和其他用户，我们解决了两个主要的研究问题：谁的发布会影响风险感知，反之亦然？不同类别的社交媒体用户的帖子如何影响风险感知，反之亦然？我们使用格兰杰因果关系分析和冲激响应函数来回答研究问题。结果表明，从一个角度看，新浪微博上的政府和媒体在形成和影响风险认知方面起着关键作用。从另一个角度看，风险感知可以促进媒体和公众在新浪微博上的发布。