The Essence and Governance of Internet Public Opinion: A Case Study of the COVID-19 Epidemic

The issue of internet public opinion is, in essence, an issue of the government response to a problem rather than a problem of information. The public opinion about the COVID-19 epidemic, including its formation, explosion, repetition and reduction, are all closely related to the local government's response to the public demand for information. The governance of public opinion should shift from information governance to improving the effectiveness of government response, that is, correctly identifying the nature of public opinion, improving the ability to respond, and solving the bottleneck of response mechanism.