The impact of help-seeking text signals on social support receipt in social media during the COVID-19 outbreak: a cross-sectional study based on signaling theory

Yanni Yang (), Ping Lei, Xueke Pei, Rui Zhang and Anling Xiang
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Yanni Yang: China Three Gorges University
Ping Lei: Zhijiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Xueke Pei: China Three Gorges University
Rui Zhang: Hubei University of Technology
Anling Xiang: Minzu University of China

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased reliance on social media for help-seeking during public health crises. Grounded in signaling theory, this study investigated how informational and emotional cues in social media help-seeking posts affect the receipt of online social support. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 807 help-seeking posts and 59,244 corresponding comments from the “COVID-19 Patients Help-Seeking Dialog” subforum on Sina Weibo, collected between January 29 and March 24, 2020. Using computational methods, while controlling for user identity type and intensity of social media use, the effects of readability, integrity, and emotional intensity of help-seeking posts on the receipt of social support by help seekers were analyzed. Our findings revealed three key insights: First, integrity positively predicts informational support receipt (β = 0.112, p

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05954-x

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