Photo: screenshot from the official account of Shenzhen Health Commission on WeChat

 
The official account of the Shenzhen Health Commission on WeChat, which is one of the most popular official accounts in China that provides medical and health information with over 13 million followers, promised to restrain in wording of its articles after a netizen filed a complaint on "vulgar" headlines.

A message left on the People's Daily online message board to Wang Weizhong, secretary of Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee said that some medical institutions' WeChat accounts use vulgar titles to "make a public stunt" and suggested rectification. The netizen sent pictures and examples pointing to the two accounts of Shenzhen Health Commission and Peking University Shenzhen Hospital.

On Sunday, the commission said that it attaches great importance to the complaint, and its WeChat official account will restrain in wording of its articles, maintain a professional, neutral and objective style. The commission said it will sincerely listen to the criticism, publish elegant and popular articles in order to avoid offending its readers. The also commission noted that it will also communicate with Peking University Shenzhen Hospital.

In the era of the internet, WeChat public accounts have become an important channel for information dissemination, especially since the outbreak of COVID-19, the official accounts of local health commissions have become one of the most important ways for people to learn health knowledge and self-protection. 

The complaint has stirred a wave on Chinese social media. Some said official accounts should be "serious" and always show "professionalism." However, many supported the commission, saying its articles with such headlines were down to earth and easy for them to understand scientific issues. 

Junzhengping Office, the official account of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, on Monday called on the public to give more tolerance to innovative official accounts on government affairs. "Innovation means breaking through conventions, and there will be mistakes and controversies," said the Junzhengping Office. If an account performs its duties well and is also welcomed by netizens with its personalized content, then such exploration is undoubtedly worthy of affirmation, it noted.

Some netizens said the account of Shenzhen Health Commission has always published articles in a lively and interesting way, which has attracted many followers.

For example, on December 1 which marked the World AIDS Day, the commission released an article titled "Having sex without condom is NG! 1,678 new cases of AIDS in Shenzhen and 60% of them were transmitted from male to male." It went viral online quickly.

Another article on the same day, "I fell in love with my muse online, took off my pants and found it was a man! I'm afraid of getting AIDS," also triggered hot discussion online.

On Sunday, the account posted an article titled "Why can't you rub your breasts carelessly? It's really dangerous!" Many netizens commented under the article showing their support for such interesting and useful information.

Some netizens said that in recent years many accounts of authorities have been too "serious" and failed to play their due role in effectively publicizing information.

Some said that to deliver the message to the public in a way that the people are pleased with is to make great efforts and to fully implement the policy of "keeping close to reality, life and the people." "We need to realize that popularity is not equal to vulgarity," said a netizen.

The South Metropolis Daily, a newspaper based in Guangdong Province, previously described some articles on the commission's official account as warm, humorous while others were serious. Many of the articles have gained more than 100,000 views.

Global Times