**: Lieyun Selection, Wen Han Wenjing
The world has been suffering from Weibo hot search for a long time!”
Recently, there have been a lot of "accusations" on Weibo hot searches on the Internet: entertainment news has been repeatedly searched, trolls are rampant, and sensitive topics and controversial topics are ......deliberately createdWhat's more, they said that the hot search has already changed its taste, and behind it is "business", not "public opinion".
On the one hand, this accusation reflects the attitude of netizens who "don't believe" in the hot search list, and on the other hand, it also expresses the emotion of "dislike". Weibo hot search, as an important channel to obtain high-value information and opinions, is now frequently questioned and complained.
So, Weibo hot searches are always scolded, are they wronged or not?
Perhaps, we can analyze the hot search listing mechanism, content and other perspectives to have a first.
The essence of hot search is the sorting of information, and the word "hot" reveals the basis of sorting. Before discussing whether the hot search is scolded as "wronged or not", let's first understand the formation mechanism of the hot search.
As early as August this year, Weibo disclosed a detailed hot search mechanism.
Hot search keywords are mainly composed of hot search keywords and hot search topics, hot search keywords are generated by netizens' search behavior and discussion behavior, and hot search topics need to be generated by topic hosts.
Keywords or topic words that are searched and discussed by a large number of netizens may become hot searches. As an open platform, Weibo not only has professional first-class and other institutional users, but also a large number of ordinary users are producing content, and everyone together constitutes an important "promoter" of hot searches.
Unlike many platforms, which set the artificial agenda of the hot search list and the characteristics of thousands of people, Weibo hot searches are mainly formed by "algorithms".
The core of the hot search algorithm reflects the user's attention to hot spots. Specifically, the hot search algorithm will integrate data indicators such as search volume, blog volume, reading volume, and interaction volume, establish three major popularity models of search, discussion, and communication, and calculate the comprehensive popularity in real time for sorting, and generate a TOP50 list.
In short, what topics will be presented on the hot search list depends on this set of public hot search algorithms.
For a long time, social platforms have been the main places for the public to obtain information and make speeches. Behind a product that sits at the top, there must be a large number of different people who use it for content.
In the information age, the public will receive a large amount of information on social **, and in this process, the information field that people pay attention to will be Xi guided by their own interests, which will be accurately captured by algorithm recommendations, and then form an "information cocoon".
Compared with the hot search list of thousands of people recommended by the algorithm, the list of thousands of people presented by the hot search on Weibo can most truly reflect the social mood, and this kind of authenticity is particularly precious in the short ** era when everyone is coerced by the algorithm.
And the real social mood can be good or bad. No matter what kind of topic content it is, it is the result of a sharp rise in popularity under multiple data indicators. As a result, there is a lot of content that people don't want to believe and don't like.
Therefore, there can be no "perfect" list of public topics. So, can this list be made "perfect" by strengthening the "human" factor?
Weibo is a social platform with strong public attributes. On the other hand, imagine that as a content production mechanism with the participation of the "whole people", if it really becomes a control, it may require us to be more vigilant and critical.
In such a free and equal communication community, multiple information, opinions and perspectives should be allowed to exist at the same time.
From this point of view, it is indeed a bit unjust to be scolded in the hot search on Weibo.
Here, we can clearly perceive the complexity of the network and the tearing of the value system in different contexts. In addition to negative hot searches, many positive things on Weibo hot searches cannot be selectively ignored.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been a lot of "warm news hot searches" on Weibo, and the ** of these hot searches are all "** releases", which also ensures the authenticity to a certain extent.
For example, in September this year, a people's topic The elderly wore 15 yuan shoes but donated 10 million yuan to their hometown, and netizens expressed their emotion and admiration, "This is our example, the spirit of the two revolutionary old-timers is admirable, and I hope to help those who really need help."
There are also netizens who think that "praise the righteous behavior of the elderly, envy the elderly's financial management ability, worry about the future flow of funds, and admire the selfless greatness of the elderly";Some netizens also said, "This is a person with great love in his heart, ordinary people can't do it, these people are god-like worship in our hearts."
Another example is a hot search in October this year, where the doctor advised not to let him go for more than half an hour to save his life
Netizens mostly said that "doctors are benevolent, sometimes they still have to listen to the doctor, and it is not okay to be self-righteous", and some netizens think that "on the luck of meeting a good doctor who is responsible, but the problem of chest pain must indeed be paid attention to, otherwise most hospitals will not have a special express channel for chest pain consultation in the emergency department", and some netizens said that "some people always think that doctors let them do examinations because they are greedy for three cents in their pockets, and they still have to listen carefully to the doctor's advice".
In general, in the era of social **, "hot search" is the key tentacle of information transmission, and we cannot deny that it has played an important role in transmitting positive energy and reflecting social conditions and public opinion.
We often hear some "buy hot searches", so can such an important list be on the list for money?
It is understood that Weibo hot search has built three sets of systems for anti-brushing of search behaviors, anti-brushing of discussions, and anti-brushing of interactions, and set anti-brushing strategies at different levels such as user layer, behavior layer, and content layer to remove abnormal data, and there is also a strict filtering mechanism for abnormal accounts such as suspected spam users, water army, and fake device accounts. From this point of view, the channel of "buying hot searches" is almost blocked.
So, why are those widely criticized topics, such as social topics, entertainment content, rumor-rumor-refutation topics, etc., still frequently appear on hot searches?
As Nilpo Zman puts it, "entertain to death", entertaining content is more likely to attract attention, and curious conjectures are more likely to attract attention, so it's no surprise that this kind of content is more popular than serious news, and it is not surprising that it is on the list. In addition, the main body of the account on Weibo is very diverse, and individual preferences are diverse and scattered, which will naturally form different types of topics, and for individuals, there are always some that do not meet "expectations".
Moreover, if you look closely, you will find that almost all of the hot searches are hosted by ** or netizens. To be precise, Weibo is only a platform that carries information and popularity, not a producer of topic content. When the hot search list does not meet the "expectations", perhaps we should think more about what is the problem?How to correct it?
In the whole era, the ecology, pattern, and communication methods have undergone profound changes, and the hot search on Weibo as a public information field and a field is facing a very complex network environment, how to create a good environment
This is naturally inseparable from the cooperation of multiple parties, ** needs "self-discipline", the platform needs to "exert force", and individuals need to be rational.
For **, **self-discipline is required.
According to the Weibo Hot Search Data Report for the First Half of 2023, in the first half of 2023, the attention of social hotspots, entertainment hotspots, and vertical hotspots will be relatively balanced.
Among them, 96% of the hot search words of social news on the list are hosted or reported by the news**, accounting for the absolute majority.
Some of the ** have the behavior of "chasing traffic" and "rubbing hot spots", which has seriously damaged the influence and credibility of **, resulting in the space of social events and people's livelihood issues that should be more concerned being squeezed out.
Therefore, in the face of hot spots and difficulties, the mainstream must be responsible for defending the territory, and even more so, it must be responsible for defending the territory. At the very least, it should be respectful and provide more truthful, objective and clear information content in a timely manner, rather than just inciting emotions.
For the platform, it needs to play its own role of intervention.
The power of agenda setting must not be completely handed over to traffic, and the platform should also give full play to its subjective initiative, undertake the task of "checking, screening, and filtering" the hot search list, and "send the hot search" of news organizations to important social news reports, including major natural disasters.
As an influential social platform, Weibo has a great exemplary role.
On the basis of the hot search algorithm, Weibo will carry out manual regulation and intervention when it involves major negative social news, sudden emergency incidents, is confirmed to be rumors, seriously untrue content, or related topic content has a tendency to lead to cyberviolence, such as tearing each other apart, promoting boycotts, attacking and abuse.
In major social events, the "emergency work mode" is launched on Weibo hot searches, that is, when serious natural disasters and major safety accidents occur, the top 10 main users on the hot search list will present important information and changes in the progress of relevant events.
Previously, Weibo also used technical means to curb and crack down on list brushing. Through the joint efforts of the platform and the world, we will not "lose your voice" or "lose focus" in the face of "big things, important things, and serious things".
For individuals, they need to be more rational in the face of all kinds of information on the Internet, improve their own quality awareness and judgment of information, and not just push the responsibility to the platform or specific user groups.
All in all, as a mapping of the network ** field, Weibo hot search has public opinion reference value. However, in the case of the influx of multiple participants in the online ** field, we need more independent dialectical thinking about the value of hot searches.