"What do you think" is more important than "What do you think": the significance of the topic and agenda setting.

Recently, many people are concerned about China's soft power and the challenges that China's culture faces in going global. We are often concerned about whether people's understanding of China and China's influence are sufficient, and whether China's views and values can be recognized and understood by the world. These are of course quite important, and we also feel the urgency of these problems for us. But in fact, the so-called soft power still has a problem worthy of attention, which is more hidden and unclear, but its decisive role deserves our high attention. This is the problem of setting the agenda and the agenda. This is an important concept in the study of mass communication, but it actually exists not only in the field of communication, but also in the whole cultural, social and economic problems. According to the simple definition in communication textbooks, the so-called setting of topics and agendas is a problem that may not tell us how to think, but can tell us how to think. Here, the first thing is to make a topic appear and attract public attention from a professional or specialized field. Then we can enlarge this topic and form an agenda that attracts continuous attention, so that the public and society can turn around this issue, and it is difficult to get rid of the influence of this issue. No matter what you think, you will think that this problem is very important and cannot be ignored. There are many topics worthy of attention in the world, but which topics can be widely concerned and discussed by the public is not random, but has been carefully set, carefully operated and arranged. In fact, the public will have different views on the topic, and people can have different views, but it is more obvious to discuss this topic rather than that topic, so that the topic can become a real public agenda. In today's internet and TV-centered media, if one or more topics or news do not become the public agenda, they will quickly get lost in the sea of information in Wang Yang, and will be as fleeting as waves or some bubbles, leaving no trace. In today's media world, which is based on attention economy and aims at attracting attention, if it can't become a public topic, this news or cultural trend is not worthy of attention, and it is impossible to get sustained and in-depth discussion. If you master the ability to set the agenda, you will take the initiative everywhere, so that you can't run out in my circle. Dancing with other people's issues and agendas is a bit like the Monkey King in the hands of the Tathagata. Although he has great skills and abilities and different opinions, he still moves in the space set by others, and it is difficult to get rid of the passive situation. It should be acknowledged that in today's globalized world, the influence of a society or country lies in its ability to set issues and agendas. How to make your society interesting or meaningful has become an agenda of the global public, which is an important part of soft power. Of course, cultural competition is reflected in many aspects, but it is very important for the dominance of the topic and the setting of the agenda. It works in two directions: on the one hand, it limits the scope of human thinking, on the other hand, it guides your way of thinking and logic. Western developed countries still have strong operational ability in forming global issues and agendas. In other words, the ability of the western world to dominate discourse lies in that it not only spreads arguments, but also sets issues and agendas. On traditional issues and agendas such as human rights, the west has formed a set of fixed agendas for many years, which makes other societies have to follow these issues and agendas. With the great changes in economy, some emerging countries have made remarkable achievements in economic and industrial development. In many fields of production, even in the era when industries that are traditionally considered as high-end, such as high-tech and cultural industries, and emerging countries begin to have a new dominant position, western society pays more and more attention to the control of discourse and relies more and more on the ability to set issues and agendas. Usually, a series of new topics dominated by the West will emerge and quickly turn into a broad public agenda. Important new issues, such as environment and low-carbon economy, lifestyle changes and animal rights, are often dominated by developed countries, and the resulting world agenda has become the focus of world public and media attention, which makes people inevitably enter these issues and participate in their discussions. At the same time, a series of far-reaching and significant economic, political and cultural choices and public policies will quickly emerge from the discussion, and even produce irreversible public awareness, which is hard for anyone to oppose and question. As long as it is opposed and questioned, it becomes negative and lacks legitimacy at the discourse level. These new issues have a great impact and require the whole society to participate in the formulation of the agenda, rather than being dominated by only one party. This is a rather severe challenge. China's unique viewpoint and voice in this respect require us to do serious and solid work. We need to make unremitting long-term efforts in spreading high-end values. This requires keen discovery of major and global problems and in-depth and one-step research on them, which requires not only achievements in natural sciences, but also important contributions in humanities and social sciences. It is necessary to conduct in-depth research on comprehensive and global issues, put forward thinking and analysis from the perspective of China with global significance, and influence and convince others. On the other hand, we should enlarge the topic, arouse public attention, turn it into a global agenda, and have a far-reaching impact on the future of the world. How to lead and dominate global issues and agendas, exert China's influence in the future cultural and social process, and make greater contributions to the development of human civilization is also an important aspect of our culture going global. At the same time, we also need to pay full attention to and prepare for the topics and agenda setting of popular culture. Actually, like Michael? The significance of Jackson lies not in his display of positive values, but in the influence of the issues and agendas he has formed. Take Avatar as an example, it is not only an entertainment film, but has successfully formed a global issue with high technology, imagination and mature production experience, and set a public agenda, which has achieved great success. Therefore, conscious efforts in this area can enable us to size up the situation in the changing world structure, take the initiative to guide and lead the setting of issues and agendas while calmly responding, and truly enhance our soft power.