Weibo Dataset

(1)By analyzing public discussions from Weibo hot search topics during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, along with publicly released data on topics related to information demand, this study analyzes changes in public information demands during public health emergencies.
(2)What are the core thematic dimensions of public information needs during health emergencies, and how do these needs exhibit temporal dynamic changes across different crisis phases?
(3)How do public information needs vary spatially across regions with different epidemic exposure intensities, and do these spatial variations align with theoretical principles (e.g., distance-decay) in health geography?
(4)Data acquisition:To investigate public information needs and assess topic engagement during the early COVID-19 pandemic, this study leveraged two complementary data sources from Sina Weibo: hot search rankings and user-generated microblog entries with relevant hashtags. A systematic web crawling approach was employed to collect 28,394 hot search entries spanning the period from December 1, 2019, to April 15, 2020. Search parameters were rigorously defined based on the COVID-19 terminology framework established by the National Population Health Science Data Center, including terms such as "Coronavirus," "COVID-19," "pneumonia," "Xinguan" (Chinese transliteration of "new crown"), "novel coronavirus," "COVID-19 pneumonia," "epidemic," "quarantine zones," and "containment measures." Using advanced search operators to enforce exact term matching within text content, a total of 907,347 relevant microblog entries were extracted from the Sina Weibo platform.The composite dataset integrates multidimensional attributes, including: content metadata(Textual content and precise timestamps), user demographics (Gender and geographic location-inferred from IP addresses), account characteristics (Verification status), engagement metrics(Repost counts, comment volumes, and likes). This methodological framework facilitates comparative analysis of Weibo hot search rankings and user-generated content, addressing both the breadth and depth of pandemic-related discourse.