An Evolutionary Game Analysis of Internet Public Opinion Events at Universities: A Case from China

Table 1

Notations and their meaning.

Participants	Notation	Meaning
Network media		Reporting probability
		Additional benefits from university student participation
		Additional benefits from university administration participation
		Gains from advertising, clicks, and user loyalty
		Information disclosure, follow-up costs
		Undetected user churn costs
		Social order disorder and other costs
University students		Participation probability
		Social identity, satisfaction, and potential benefits of participating in the topic
		Participate in the online media topic and get additional benefits
		Students’ income from the active education guidance of colleges and universities
		Time spent on searching for topics, search costs, etc.
		The cost of misjudgment
		Spread rumors and be punished by colleges and universities
		Spread rumors, chaotic costs of social order
University administrator		Active participation probability
		Timely information processing, education, guidance, teacher and student behavior, etc.
		Participate in the online media topic and get additional benefits
		Additional benefits from active student participation
		Cost of manpower, material resources, time, etc. spent on participation in topics
		Costs to be paid due to the decline in the credibility of colleges and universities due to negative coping

Note. denote, respectively, the revenues and costs.