A Study on the Diffusion of Knowledge from Professional Circles to the General Public and Its Media Effects—An Analysis Based on Health and Science Communication

Abstract

Short-video platforms have become a key channel through which the general public accesses health and scientific knowledge. The spillover of specialist knowledge into the public sphere, whilst lowering the barriers to science communication and health education, may also give rise to oversimplification, a lack of evidence and misleading information due to fragmented presentation, emotional narratives and algorithmic recommendations. This paper takes health and science communication as its subject of analysis. Building upon existing research in communication studies, health communication and science communication, it explores the complete five-stage chain of production–adaptation–distribution–reception–feedback through which expert knowledge spreads from professional circles into the public sphere, the pathways of content reconstruction, and the media effects generated throughout the whole process. Within the short-video environment, the dissemination of knowledge cannot simply be viewed as the ‘translation of specialist content for a general audience’, but should instead be regarded as a circular process jointly constructed by production – adaptation – distribution – reception – feedback. Social feedback from user comments, likes, complaints and platform correction mechanisms will reversely drive creators to adjust content adaptation logic, push platforms to optimise algorithm distribution rules, and even prompt professional institutions to supplement or revise original knowledge production materials, forming a closed-loop iterative communication system. The key to enhancing communication effectiveness lies not in focusing solely on chasing traffic, but in striking a balance between accuracy, comprehensibility, credibility and actionability. Platforms, professional organisations and content creators need to jointly establish mechanisms encompassing evidence labelling, source verification, comment moderation and the enhancement of users’ media literacy, thereby facilitating the more robust integration of sound and scientific knowledge into public life.