Research report: Framing science in the digital age: exploring the relationships between general, social media-specific, and research-specific news values and audience engagement with science news on Sina Weibo

An analysis of 34,369 science news posts on Sina Weibo found that most examined news values were positively associated with audience engagement, but the strength and direction of those associations differed across likes, comments and shares. The study examined general, social media-specific and research-specific news values in the Chinese social media setting, finding that the characteristics associated with engagement did not operate identically across the platform’s three response measures. Researchers constructed a regression model based on a three-level framing structure to assess the relationships between different categories of news values and audience engagement with science news.

The dataset consisted of Sina Weibo posts, allowing the analysis to consider the relationships between post characteristics and interactions recorded by the platform. Because the research analyzed existing posts and engagement outcomes, its results establish associations rather than showing that any particular framing choice caused users to respond. The team also conducted subgroup regressions to examine whether relationships between news values and engagement varied across media contexts.

Across these analyses, most news values showed positive associations with engagement, while the magnitude and direction of the relationships were not uniform for likes, comments and shares. The findings therefore indicate that a single engagement indicator would conceal variation in how audience responses were related to the framing of science news. Published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications , the study offers a platform-specific account of relationships among news values, framing and engagement with science news on Sina Weibo.

Its scope is limited to the analyzed posts, the three categories of news values and the measured engagement indicators. The supplied results do not establish that the same relationships apply to other social media platforms, countries, scientific disciplines or audience groups, nor do they demonstrate that particular framing strategies would cause reliably greater engagement. As an accepted open-access article shared before publication of the final version, the research is also subject to further editorial revision.

Subject of Research: Relationships among news values and engagement with science news on Sina Weibo

Article Title: Framing science in the digital age: exploring the relationships between general, social media-specific, and research-specific news values and audience engagement with science news on Sina Weibo

Article References: Dai, X., Liu, X., & Tian, W. (2026). Framing science in the digital age: exploring the relationships between general, social media-specific, and research-specific news values and audience engagement with science news on Sina Weibo. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09465-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09465-1

Keywords: science news, Sina Weibo, audience engagement, news values, social media, digital communication, framing analysis, regression modeling, Framing, science, digital, exploring