Examining Weibo posting anxiety among well-educated youth in China: A qualitative approach

This study extends the application of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to investigate the nature of Weibo posting anxiety and its determinants (i.e., micro-blogging self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and prior experience) among well-educated youth in China. Analyzing semi-structured interviews with Chinese Weibo users, this study identified four dimensions of microblogging posting anxiety, including social-, writing-, technology-, and safety-related anxiety. Fear of receiving negative evaluation from offline friends and leaking personal information to unknown/dangerous readers were the main reasons for their Weibo posting anxiety. Prior experiences of obtaining undesirable comments and disappointing feedback were found to create negative outcome expectations of Weibo usage (e.g., deteriorating self-presentation and causing misunderstanding), which may indirectly induce Weibo posting anxiety. However, self-efficacy did not play a significant role in generating anxious reactions towards Weibo posting. Theore...