Please briefly introduce the changes of silent spiral theory under the network environment.

The theory of "spiral of silence" provides a new perspective for the study of communication effect, and re-expounds the theory of strong effect of mass communication, which has great influence. At the same time, this theory has also been challenged by the theoretical circle and the development of the times. Theoretically, scholars have raised some doubts about her theory, for example, they have raised objections to her using the single factor of fear of loneliness to explain human behavior; In addition, this theory can not explain the rapid spread of abnormal thoughts well; Moreover, this theory may be related to specific national psychology, and this assumption has been questioned to varying degrees in theoretical and empirical investigations of different social cultures and themes. From the development of the times, the emergence of new technologies, especially the emergence of the Internet, also challenges this theory. Some scholars believe that it is difficult to exert group pressure on the Internet because of its equality, anonymity and geographical restrictions. As a hypothesis to support this theory, that is, the psychological state of fear of being isolated will no longer exist, so the "spiral of silence" theory will lose its effectiveness.

The change of communication mode and audience psychology brought by the Internet will inevitably lead to the change of traditional communication theory, but we can't deny the traditional communication theory just because of the appearance of a brand-new communication mode. The change of people's life and way of thinking caused by the change of communication mode is not sudden, but is inevitably related to the original way of life and way of thinking. The possibility in technical theory does not mean the possibility in practice.

It is believed that the "spiral of silence" theory has failed in network communication.

Wang Bifen and Wu Ying put forward in the article "Theory and Practice of the Spiral of Silence" [4] that the most obvious challenge of network communication to the spiral of silence directly comes from a remarkable feature of network communication-anonymity. She thinks:

1. Because the carrier of communication on the Internet is printed words, there is no obstacle of direct contact such as face-to-face interpersonal communication, and there is no influence of mass communication of sounds and images. Therefore, online communication makes it unnecessary for people to leave their names, and no one will interfere with you, no matter whether you are talking nonsense or expressing your thoughts directly, because no one knows who is talking and whether what he said is true or not. Therefore, network communication has brought people more space for communication and free expression, which is the missing condition in the theoretical hypothesis of "silent spiral".

2. The anonymity of network communication will make individuals less concerned about the constraints of social norms and more willful when expressing themselves. They can express their opinions at will, without being influenced by other people's ideas, and they don't have to bear the psychological burden of their actions, which makes the situation of "not expressing opposition for fear of being isolated" put forward by the "silent spiral" theory gradually weaken or even disappear completely.

3. People who communicate with each other also have this kind of psychology: I don't know whether the person who expresses dissent is true or false, and I can't say whether he is mysterious and deliberately different, so the accusation against dissidents will be lighter, and the psychological pressure that people need to bear after freely expressing their opinions on the Internet will become very limited.

In online communication, people tend to expose their true selves easily, which will further encourage people to show their unique views even when they disagree with others.

In the conclusion, the author thinks that people in the network, because of the anonymity of communication, are more inclined to show their "id" that they rarely have the opportunity to show in public on weekdays, and they are more likely and more willing to show their true views than to accept or acquiesce in others' views. In this way, it is not feasible to explain everything with the "spiral of silence" theory at this time. However, the author takes anonymity as a sharp weapon to challenge the "spiral of silence" theory, which is a bit weak. In the author's view, "anonymity" can create a relaxed and free space for equal communication without group pressure, but "everyone is equal at the masked ball" is just a false principle of equality. Everything is a story in this world without me and you. "