The Diffusion Path of Marxist Chineseization Ideas Based on the Information Diffusion Model

Information diffusion models are used to explain, model, simulate and predict the diffusion process of information in social networks, and can be used in a variety of ways such as viral marketing, rumor control and explosive information detection. In the past, sociologists, epidemiologists and marketers have proposed innovation diffusion models, infectious disease diffusion models, product diffusion models, etc. Although these models are proposed for real social networks, the diffusion of innovations and infectious diseases, etc., in real social networks is similar to the diffusion of information in on-line social networks, so these models are also applicable in on-line social networks to some extent. The current widely used classical theoretical diffusion models include: independent cascade model, linear threshold model, infectious disease model and game theory model. Although this class does not have predictive abilities, it can be utilized to simulate information diffusion in social networks, and most of the current research on information diffusion maximization is based on this class of models.

Diffusion of innovation theory is a theory about persuading people to accept new ideas, new things and new products through media, focusing on the influence of mass media on society and culture. According to him, an innovation is an idea, practice, or thing that is perceived as novel by individuals or other adopting units.

Diffusion of innovations is a fundamental phenomenon that exists in society, in which information about something new spreads in people’s lives and is subjectively perceived as such. This process consists of four parts: innovation, communication channels, the social system, and time. However, there are also at least five other parts: knowing, persuading, deciding, implementing, and determining. The invention and diffusion of new things in the population can have different results, some choose to accept it and some choose to reject it, and these different choices bring different results to the development of the society. Rogers and others have summarized the basic law of innovation diffusion in social systems through their research and concluded that the diffusion process of new ideas, new technologies and other innovations presents an “S” curve. The “S” curve is shown in Figure 1. In the early stage of diffusion, there are few adopters and the progress is slow. When the number of innovation recipients in the innovation diffusion process grows to 10-25% of the total number of groups, the progress of diffusion becomes faster and diffusion enters a period of rapid growth. When the diffusion approach the end, the speed of diffusion becomes slower and slower. In the process of innovation diffusion, the number of early recipients of the innovation is relatively small, but a small number of groups have a greater influence on the later diffusion process, and under their influence to influence the remaining groups to accept the innovation and promote the process of innovation. According to Rogers, the “early adopters” of an innovation are those who are willing to take the lead in accepting and using the innovation and are willing to take the risk of accepting the innovation. This part of the people themselves have a faster rate of adoption of the innovation, willing to quickly accept the diffusion of innovation, and can influence the people around them to accept the innovation, accept the innovative products and concepts, these early recipients of innovation to promote the development of the innovation process. One of the special advantages of using the theory of diffusion of innovations in communication research is that it has no limitations and can be used to study any form of innovation, so this paper chooses to use the theory of diffusion of innovations in information communication research. Studies have shown that in both developed and developing countries, the process of diffusion usually follows an S-shaped curve, i.e., it is slow at the beginning of adoption, accelerates when it expands to half of the total number of recipients, and slows down when it approaches the maximum saturation point.

Figure 1.

S-shaped curve of innovation diffusion

Rogers’ innovation diffusion model is built based on four main factors which are innovation, diffusion channel, time and social system as shown in Figure 2:

Figure 2.

Rogers innovation diffusion theory system

An innovation is a method, technology, or object, etc., that is perceived as completely new by the individual or group adopting it, and it is the individual’s perception of the novelty of the method that determines his reaction to the innovation. Characteristics of innovations help to explain the different rates of diffusion, characteristics include: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. In the 1970s, diffusion scholars began to study the concept of reinnovation, which is the extent to which an innovation creates, changes, and is altered when it is adopted and implemented. Diffusion Channel. It is the means by which information is transmitted from one individual to another, and the nature of the exchange relationship between individuals determines the conditions under which an informed party will or will not transmit the innovation to an unknown party, and how effective the transmission will be. Mass media and social relations channels are the primary means, and in addition, diffusion inherently requires at least some degree of dissimilarity between the two participants. Time: The time factor consists of four types: 1)

The innovation decision-making process, which consists of five steps: perception, persuasion, decision, implementation and confirmation.

Since the 17th Party Congress in 2007, which for the first time explicitly stated, “to carry out activities to publicize and popularize the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to promote the Chineseization of Marxism in contemporary China,” Chinese scholars have begun to carry out a wide range of in-depth studies on the Chineseization of Marxism. Therefore, from the beginning of January 2007 to the end of December 2023, an accurate search on CNKI with the themes of “cyberspace”, “sinicization of Marxism”, “cyberspace” and “sinicization of Marxism” can be used to obtain the number of research results of academic papers, dissertations, conference papers and newspaper articles, as shown in Table 3.

From this data table, we can roughly understand the general situation of academic research on the Chineseization of Marxism in the perspective of cyberspace: firstly, since 2007, the number of research results on cyberspace has increased year by year, with a significant increase in 2016 but a decline from 2022. From the above data, perhaps we can draw two conclusions: the first conclusion is that with the rapid development of cyber technology and the great importance attached to it at the national level, the number of research results has shown a yearly increase since 2007. The second conclusion is that academic research on cyberspace is returning to rationality, leading to a downward trend in the number of research results from 2022.

“Diffusion of innovations theory suggests that for things to diffuse in a social system, 10 to 20 percent of the population must first adopt the innovation, and only after a critical mass is reached does the diffusion process move to the rapid diffusion stage.” The mass media has the advantages of fast communication speed and wide coverage, so “the theory of diffusion of innovation holds that the first prerequisite for the diffusion of an innovation is to make it spread through the mass media so that it arouses the interest of the audience and obtains their recognition”. Our survey results also show that mass media communication is one of the ideal ways to promote the popularization of socialist theory with Chinese characteristics. A questionnaire was designed and distributed via the Internet, and 120 survey results were randomly selected and statistically analyzed. Specific performance: 49.4% think that training is the preferred way to promote the dissemination of socialist theory with Chinese characteristics in China, and 44% think that mass media is the next best way. Since China does not yet have the conditions to popularize the theory to all or most people through training, only 16% of the people we surveyed have participated in theory training. Based on this, mass media should be the most common way to promote the popularization of socialist theory with Chinese characteristics at present. The results of the responses to the question “What do you think are the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the current publicity of the socialist theory system with Chinese characteristics?” The second most significant reason is the narrow scope of the mass media, which accounts for 26.2% of the surveyed population.

What is shown is the utilization of mass media by gender, age and literacy as shown in Table 4. Among the four major media, TV has the highest utilization rate, accounting for 28%. For this reason, in the future, in the process of publicizing contemporary Chinese Marxism, the relevant departments should pay attention to the use of different media for different recipients. In addition, with the rapid development of the new technological revolution, the cell phone has been called the fifth media in communication science. According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of the Third Innovation Industry, the number of cell phone users in China reached 647.286 million in December 2023, with a cell phone penetration rate of about 45.7%. Recently, In-forma, a U.S. market research company, released a report that the total number of cell phone users worldwide has reached 3.3 billion, equivalent to 50% of the total global population of 6.6 billion. At the same time, 59 countries currently have a cell phone penetration rate of more than 100%. The above data shows that China is still a large market for potential cell phone users. More and more people are becoming accustomed to using SMS to communicate innovations, and the volume of SMS sent by cell phones in China reached 592.1 billion in 2023, an annual increase of 37.8%. For this reason, in the future, in the process of promoting the Chineseization of contemporary Chinese Marxism, the relevant departments should also pay attention to the use of cell phones as a new medium.

The results of the responses to the question “Which form is the most effective in publicizing the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics?” are shown in Figure 4. Forms 1-9: Holding reports, preparing popular books, running publicity columns, setting up advanced models, publishing public service announcements, preparing cell phone text messages, compiling and broadcasting animation, entering government websites, and others. Among them, the preparation of popular books (20.2), the release of public service announcements (20.2), and the compilation of animation (14.6) are favored by the general public because these forms express the originally abstract theoretical knowledge in a visual and intuitive form. During the 17th National Congress, the serial drama “Culture Station Chief”, which was broadcast on CCTV in the “prime” time slot, deeply attracted the masses because it made full use of the image of the drama, innovated the form of TV dissemination of the Party’s theories, and aroused the masses’ interest in the Party’s innovative theories.

Figure 4.

Results of the problem survey