社會化媒體改變了傳統的話語權力關系,為公民自主傳播信息提供了便利,但同時也對政府危機公關提出了新的挑戰。在天津港"8·12"特別重大火災爆炸事故中,政府危機的公關失策的原因主要有三:第一,在危機傳播策略上,政府未能選擇適合具體危機情境的傳播策略,回避了對事件原因的追責和相應的政策調整,而是將民眾注意力引向社會的紀念活動和救援故事這一邊緣化的議題;第二,在危機傳播機制上,政府無論在線上還是線下都未在第一時間進行信息公開,為社會化媒體上的謠言傳播提供了可乘之機;第三,在危機傳播輿情導控上,政府在社會化媒體上單一地進行信息控制,引發公眾話語的進一步對抗,進而加劇危機。為此,政府危機公關需要借助社交媒體搭建開放的交流平臺,走出"缺陷模式"的困境,滿足民眾自主表達的需求,在平等溝通中化解危機。當然,政府危機公關和形象傳播的難度根植于信任缺失的社會現狀和決策封閉的制度結構因素,需要政府以及其他社會主體的共同努力。

The emergence of social media has changed the traditional discourse power relationship,thus providing much convenience for citizens to communicate with each other. But at the same time,it has also presented the government new challenges in crisis management. Taking Tianjin’s 812 explosions as an example,we try to figure out how to conduct crisis management and image communication in the social media age. In the 812 accident,the failure of the government’s crisis management is due to the following reasons. Firstly,the government failed to use appropriate crisis response strategies based on different situations. Most of the microblog posts related to the explosion accident focused on the rescue story or commemorative activities,lacking convincing posts about the reason and risks of the accident. Secondly,the government failed to disclose information as soon as possible. This made it possible for rumors to spread on social media platforms. Thirdly,the government tried to control the flow of information on social media platforms,resulting in a confrontation by citizens. Therefore,the government should build an open communication platform based on social media. It should try to give citizens the right of free expression and resolve crisis in the process of free communication. It is true that it is difficult for the government to conduct crisis management and image construction due to a lack of social trust and its closed decision-making mechanism.The government should nevertheless work together with other social participants to conduct better crisis management.