Research On The Official Narratives In Social Media And The Construction Of China’s National Image

As a unity of objective reality and subjective cognition,the construction of national image is rooted in the intersubjectivity of the international relations process.State actors play a fundamental role in the construction of China’s national image,which on the one hand stems from the essential connotation of the concept of national image,and on the other hand is based on the inevitable requirements of the development of the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics.In recent years,the global situation fluctuates and fluctuates,the international pattern undergoes profound adjustments,the status,role and influence of each country may be redefined,international politics,media technology and people’s social life undergo huge changes,and the state actors in social media and their interactions with each other have received unprecedented attention.The 20th Party Congress,held in October 2022,put forward and sublimated the theory of "Chinese-style modernization",which provides a different path for the modernization of all countries in the world from that of the West,and offers a Chinese proposal for mankind’s search for a better system,creating a new form of human civilization,and triggering a profound echo in the international community.China,which has come closer to the center of the world stage than ever before through the practice of Chinese-style modernization,has actively participated in the practice of the international system,publishing official narratives such as the Global Security Initiative,the Global Development Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative based on the concept of the "community of shared destiny of mankind",and playing the role of a builder and leader in the process of constructing a new type of international relations,which has attracted important concerns from all countries.The role of official narratives such as the Global Security Initiative and the Global Development Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative in promoting the construction of a new type of international relations has been of great concern to all countries,and has prompted us to rethink and scrutinize the importance of China’s official narratives in the context of the new era.As a matter of fact,in terms of the essential connotation of national image,the state itself has a fundamental position.Throughout the history of China’s national image construction,it can be seen that since the founding of the PRC,the Party and the government have put forward and formulated many ideologies and strategic plans according to the international situation and domestic social environment of each period,which have boosted and guided the construction of the country’s development and the presentation of its international image in different periods.From this point of view,China’s official narrative has played a fundamental role in the process of constructing the country’s image,such as theory,strategy,and action.With the change of digital technology,the world has entered the era of deep mediaization and digital intelligence,people’s interaction has changed profoundly,and social media has become an important field for international public opinion exchanges.China’s official narrative not only occupies an important position in the field of traditional media communication,but also deserves attention and reflection on its functional influence and current practice in emerging communication environments such as social media.Based on the above understanding,this paper argues that in the context of the changing world landscape,the deep embedding of social media in people’s social life,and the proposal and deepening of "Chinese modernization",we should take Chinese official subjects who can represent the will of the state and carry out their practices with the support of the party and the government as the object of study,and explore their narrative practices and China’s national image in the social media arena.It is of great value and significance to explore its narrative practice and the construction of China’s national image in the social media arena.First of all,Chinese-style modernization is not only a summary of China’s socialist practice,but also a sublimation of traditional Chinese culture and Western modernization theory.To examine the construction of China’s national image in the new era based on the theoretical connotation of Chinese-style modernization is not only a heritage of history,but also a reflection and response to modern China’s integration into the world’s development framework and the search for the right of international discourse in the context of globalization,which is of historical and contemporary significance.Secondly,the official subject has an important position in the practice of international communication,and with the change of media technology,social media has constituted a new type of communication ecosystem with the application of various technologies.Taking the official subject as the foothold to connect the practice of international system at the real level and the practice of social media at the virtual level is,on the one hand,conducive to exploring and establishing a new theoretical framework,perfecting the theoretical system of national image construction,and promoting interdisciplinary dialogues in international communication research;on the other hand,by combining the reality of China’s national image with the realistic requirements of domestic and international environments,we can put forward proposals on shaping the national image of the official subject of China in the social media platform from the practical level.On the other hand,combining the reality of China’s national image with the requirements of the domestic and international environment,we can put forward a feasible methodology for China’s official subjects in social media platforms,which is both theoretical and practical.This paper focuses on the core issue of how China’s official narrative practice based on social media affects the construction of China’s national image,and tries to establish a theoretical framework that is in line with this practice while exploring the historical and practical basis,and to reflect and make suggestions based on the practice cases.In order to achieve this goal,this paper,on the basis of elaborating relevant concepts,relying on constructivism theory,social interaction theory,and narrative theory,and utilizing empirical research methods such as historical research method,comparative research method,quantitative content analysis,qualitative text analysis,and discursive research method based on logical deductive reasoning,tries to answer the following questions:first,the logical connection between official narratives in social media and the construction of China’s national image;first,how official narratives in social media affect the construction of China’s national image;and second,how official narratives in social media affect the construction of China’s national image.First,the logical connection between official narratives in social media and the construction of China’s national image;second,the change of the relationship between official narratives in social media and the construction of China’s national image;and third,in the context of environmental change,how does China’s official narrative practice in social media aim at national image building?The specific research content of this paper is as follows:Chapter 1 Introduction.It mainly deals with the preliminary preparation for the study of official narratives in social media and the construction of China’s national image,identifying the research questions and research methods of this paper in terms of the origin of the research background,the significance and value,the definition of the concepts,the literature review,and the theoretical foundations,etc.,and ultimately forming a complete research idea and proposing a logical framework for the study.Chapter 2 Historical Examination of China’s National Image Construction in Official Narratives and Media Interactions.From the perspective of historical review,it clarifies the importance of China’s official narrative and changes in the international communication system for the construction of national image,the auxiliary and promotional role of media changes for national image in history,and the changes brought by social media to the world pattern and the pattern of human communication after the emergence of the Internet.This part of the analysis provides a rational answer based on historical basis for the correlation between China’s official narratives,social media interactions and China’s national image construction,and also strengthens the foundation for the subsequent research.Chapter 3 Analysis of China’s National Image Construction and Realistic Requirements in the New Era.From the perspective of reality sorting,it summarizes the characteristics of the mechanism and the influence of social media communication,the reality of China’s national image and its social media communication,and the world and China in the changing times,so as to provide a realistic basis for the study of China’s national image construction and social media official narrative under the change of the global situation and the change of the media in the new era.Finally,we put forward the fundamental logic of China’s national image building with national political parties as the leading party,social media as the main practice field,the concept of "community of human destiny" as the core content,and narrative as the main way,and we focus on the theoretical connotation of "Chinese-style modernization" and the concept of "social media as the main practice field".The field of social media practice puts forward realistic directions for the development path of China’s national image shaping in the new era.Chapter 4 Theoretical Analysis of Social Media Official Narratives and the Construction of China’s National Image.From the perspective of theoretical construction,we integrate process constructivism theory,social interaction theory and narrative paradigm theory,and put forward a triple-loop nested model of state image construction based on social media official narratives:firstly,relying on process constructivism theory,we put forward a mechanism for the process of state image construction based on the macrosystemic level and the participation of state actors in the practice of the international system;secondly,based on social interaction theory,we put forward a mechanism for state image construction based on mesosocial communication level;secondly,according to the social interaction theory,we put forward a mechanism for the development of China’s national image based on the social media official narrative.Second,based on social interaction theory,the possibility of Chinese official subjects’ practice in the social media field based on the rationality of interaction is proposed at the meso-social interaction level;third,with the help of the theory of generalized narratology and narrative paradigm theory,the process of the official narrative practice of the national image based on the basic elements of the narrative and the twofold narrativization process is proposed,which provides a micro-level observation angle and analytical thoughts for the practice of China’s official social media.Based on these three considerations,we finally propose a framework for analyzing the official narrative of China’s national image in social media for concrete practice,which contains three levels of macro systematic practice,meso-relational practice,and micro narrative practice respectively.Chapter 5 Practical Analysis of the Official Narrative of China’s National Image in Social Media.Taking Sina Weibo and Twitter(renamed "X"),two influential Chinese and foreign social media platforms,as cases,we outline the practice of China’s official social media national image narrative through quantitative content analysis,qualitative text analysis and comparative study,and abstract the behavioral mechanism model of China’s official social media national image narrative.Through quantitative content analysis,qualitative text analysis and comparative study,we outline the practice of China’s official social media national image narrative,abstract the behavioral mechanism model of China’s official social media national image narrative,and compare the similarities and differences between Chinese and foreign social media narrative practices through the case of "Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan",which confirms the theoretical model constructed in the previous chapter,and provides both theoretical and practical references for the subsequent research.Chapter 6 Optimization Suggestions for Social Media-based Official Narratives and China’s National Image Construction.On the basis of historical review,reality sorting,theoretical construction and practical analysis,it proposes,respectively,from the level of international system,adhering to the official practice with the connotation of Chinese-style modernization,transforming and integrating the concept of China’s national image construction,and actively participating in and adapting to the changes in the external environment;from the level of social media interaction,it proposes rational interaction paths,such as expanding the depth and breadth of interaction in social media,and balancing the space for dialogue between instrumental and value rationality.From the level of social media communication,we propose to expand the depth and breadth of social media communication and interaction,and balance the space for dialog between instrumental rationality and value rationality;from the level of social media narrative,we propose collaborative narrative enhancement strategies based on the production of content,rhetorical appeals,media dissemination,and platform adaptation.These strategic suggestions can provide reference and inspiration for the social media national image narratives of other Chinese actors participating in the practice of the international system.Chapter 7 Conclusion and prospect.The main work and conclusion of the research are described,the innovation and shortcomings of the research are put forward,and the space for further research is prospected.