On the evening of June 27, the Weibo administrator issued an announcement saying that in the special crackdown on the online black industry, it was found that some media accounts accepted the marketing needs of enterprises, illegally modified the introduction of hot search topics, put the top commercial blog posts, brushed volume, and rushed to the list, and announced three typical violation cases and disposals.
After the announcement, many netizens expressed support for Weibo's measures to crack down on illegal marketing practices, but if we only stay at the level of dealing with a few illegal accounts, we may underestimate the positive significance of this announcement to the future content ecology and business network environment construction of the Weibo platform, which is of great significance to both the platform itself and the media and enterprises in it.
First of all, cracking down on illegal marketing behaviors is conducive to standardizing the order of online communication and maintaining a good content ecology.
As we all know, Weibo hot searches are mainly composed of hot search keywords and hot search topics, and keywords or topic words that are searched and discussed by a large number of netizens may become hot searches. For a long time, Weibo has actually leaned towards the media in terms of rules, so the media has become an absolute contributor to social news on the hot search list. According to the data, in the first half of 2023, as many as 96% of the social news topics on the hot search list were hosted or reported by news media.
However, a small number of media, instead of using the rules to build credibility and enhance influence with high-quality news reports, have instead used Weibo's support for the media and the rules of the hot search algorithm to accept the marketing needs of enterprises and carry out a variety of violations, such as: after hosting relevant topics on the hot search list, they add commercial marketing blog posts in a non-compliant form and put them at the top, so as to carry out illegal marketing; Before presiding over relevant business topics on the hot search list, cooperate with enterprises to participate in the illegal list in a non-compliant form; Participate in a large number of non-compliant forms in business topics and publish homogeneous content to make illegal rankings...... This kind of behavior of hosting hot search topics to rub traffic and over-commercialize content is not only a short-sighted behavior that damages the credibility of the media itself, but also a violation of the rules that undermines the content ecology and disrupts the order of online communication.
Weibo hot search is the presentation of the pulse of society. The punishment of illegal accounts is conducive to maintaining the content production rules of the platform, is conducive to allowing Weibo's support for the media to play a positive effect, and is more conducive to allowing the down-to-earth and serious media to make content on the hot search with strength under the rules of fairness, justice and openness, so that the "big things, important things, and serious things" that the public really cares about are presented on the hot search list, so that the Weibo hot search becomes an important channel for the public to obtain timely information, and becomes a public domain for the public to express their opinions rationally, and ultimately promotes the construction of a good content ecology on Weibo.
Second, cracking down on illegal marketing practices is conducive to standardizing business cooperation and creating a good business network environment.
In the era of information explosion, users' attention has become the object of contention for enterprises. As the main front for the outbreak of social hotspots and the heating up of topics, Weibo has won more and more recognition of its value from customers. Data shows that in the automotive field, more than 90% of new energy vehicles will be listed on Weibo as an important communication position.
As a platform that attaches great importance to the coordinated development of content and business, when Weibo's content ecology releases huge commercial value, as a co-builder of the content ecology, the media naturally begins to share the traffic dividend. Whether it is for the platform or the media, this is a good thing for both parties to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. However, for their own interests, some media have violated the "Weibo Business Conduct Code", "Weibo Hot Search Management Rules" and other relevant regulations, and carried out illegal marketing, swiping and other behaviors.
Rushing the list and brushing the volume is not only a violation, but also a dishonest behavior. It is said that the embankment of a thousand miles collapses in the anthill, and if this kind of violation is not dealt with in time, on the one hand, it will seize the living space of the media that do content in a down-to-earth manner, resulting in the expulsion of good money from bad money. On the other hand, it will also disrupt the order of business cooperation of platforms, which is not conducive to the sustainable business realization of media and platforms.
Therefore, cracking down on illegal marketing behaviors is to standardize business cooperation, create a good business network environment, and give the opportunity for commercial realization to media that really strive to make content, so that more high-quality media can share the dividends of the development of the platform. As stated in the announcement, Weibo will continue to improve the rules and mechanisms for collaboration and cooperation among platforms, enterprises and media, provide more high-quality and diverse cooperation channels, help mainstream media expand their influence, and achieve a bumper harvest of social and economic benefits.
Finally, the relationship between the platform and the media is always mutually beneficial, and only multi-party collaboration can build a good ecology and ultimately achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
In today's era of information explosion, the relationship between Weibo and the media is getting closer and closer, and the two are showing a trend of common development and mutual benefit.
In terms of content, Weibo, as an important social media platform, has the characteristics of fast information dissemination and wide range of influence, which provides a broad stage for the dissemination of media content. The media provides Weibo with professional content and authoritative voices to enrich its content ecology and enhance the value of the platform. The relationship between the two that needs and promotes each other forms the basis for the symbiosis between Weibo and the media.
In terms of commercial monetization, Weibo has always emphasized that "content is business, and business is content". On the one hand, Weibo organically combines the media, users, and enterprises, and fully demonstrates the influence of the media and the differences of the Weibo platform to enterprises by building a new content ecosystem, and explores the opportunities for media business monetization. On the other hand, Weibo has been striving to balance the core demands and interests of media, enterprises and platforms to create a healthy and sustainable business ecosystem, which is the premise of the co-prosperity of Weibo and the media.
The lone traveler is fast, and the crowd traveler is far. In order to realize the sustainable development of this mutually beneficial and win-win model between the microblogging platform and the media, it is necessary to emphasize multi-party collaboration. On the one hand, Weibo not only needs to provide media with a more open and convenient content publishing and dissemination mechanism, but also needs to innovate cooperation models to provide more possibilities for media business monetization. On the other hand, as the co-builder of the platform, the media also needs to abide by the rules of the platform, jointly maintain a good order of online communication, and build a healthy and orderly content ecology. Only by empowering each other and achieving each other can we achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, and only then can we do good things, do big things, and do long-term things.
Source: WeChat public account "Media Tea Party"
Author: Qiu Zhen
Editor: Deng Rumeng, Zheng Shuxian
[Disclaimer: This account is a theoretical and practical platform for integration and innovation in the field of propaganda and media, and is an official public welfare account, and this article is reprinted for the purpose of conveying more information. If there is a source label error or other inaccuracies, please contact us. We will correct it in a timely manner. Thank you]