FRAMING COLLEGE STUDENTS’ EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION IN CHINA: A QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF WECHAT OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS

Abstract

This study is grounded in an integrated framework that combines attribute agenda‑setting with framing theory. It examines four typical cases: the government account “大学生就业资讯” (College Student Employment Information), the university account “西安文理学院就业中心” (Xi’an University of Arts and Sciences Employment Center), the enterprise account “实习僧” (Shixiseng), and the individual account “今日实习” (Today’s Internship). The findings show that the four types of accounts differ markedly in their selection of issue attributes, textual presentation, framing strategies, and subject positioning. For the government account, the framing strategy centres on authoritative service and risk prevention, with clear emphasis on policy norms, public services, and information security. The university account, in contrast, operates with a campus service and process-support frame: it not only disseminates job information but also offers guidance, reminders, and value orientation. The enterprise account, meanwhile, adopts an opportunity conversion and urgent action frame, which boosts user conversion through prominent salary figures, reputable company names, benefit labels, and direct calls to action. Finally, the individual account deploys an efficient filtering and peer companionship frame, helping users lower their information-screening costs by means of industry classification and a clean, low-ornament organisational style. This study argues that the four types of actors jointly constitute a new media ecology of college students’ employment information in China, while different frames may also create tensions among information authority, commercialization, generalized reposting, and emotional mobilization. These tensions can lead to negative consequences for students‘ career decisions: for example, overpackaged commercial information may induce unrealistic salary expectations and hasty applications, while fragmented and emotionally charged frames may increase anxiety and make it harder to systematically evaluate job fit. The conclusions provide reference for university employment accounts seeking to optimize content production and improve the quality of employment information services and also offer suggestions for government regulators.