How Do NGOs Discuss HIV/AIDS in China? Strategic Communication and Technology Affordances Across Media Platforms

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Health Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Prior research has investigated the discourse of the government, media, and the general public to understand how HIV/AIDS is socially constructed. Missing in this line of research, however, is the discourse of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which play pivotal roles in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Employing semantic network analysis, this study examined and compared NGOs’ HIV/AIDS discourse on social media and websites in China. Drawing on the communication affordance framework, this study identified more diverse themes of HIV/AIDS on NGOs’ social media than on their websites. NGOs’ discourse on these two platforms converges when it comes to promoting public policy, public education, and health interventions. However, NGOs have to openly applaud the government on social media to gain institutional legitimacy. Implications for research on strategic communication, organizational discourse, and technology affordances are discussed.

Authors

• Jiawei Sophia Fu, Rutgers U - School of Communication and Information

• Renwen Zhang, Northwestern U