The Micro Communication Mechanism and Characteristics of Health Rumors among the Elderly Group——Take WeChat Official Account as an Example

Abstract

The high-frequency spread of health rumors among the elderly in the WeChat field has become a prominent social problem. In order to better control rumor, it is necessary to clarify its micro dissemination mechanism. The paper relies on the MOA theoretical framework to clarify the motivational factors, opportunity factors, and ability factors of the spread of health rumors among the elderly people, and uses interview methods to study the micro dissemination mechanism of health rumors. Research has found that the spread of health rumors among elderly people mainly follows the path of “getting health rumors ? health rumors diffusing within peer groups ? health rumors overflowing from the circle of elderly people ? family members contained”, and forms a “Four Point Dissemination” mechanism that connects peer groups and primary groups, including origin, nodes, fulcrums, and endpoints. From the perspective of communication characteristics, the spread of health rumors has a strong closeness, inter-generational, and situational nature, presenting a double-layer communication structure that intersects within the circle and connects outside the circle, and has a prominent Pareto effect.