An article appearing on Study Times, the official newspaper of the CCP Central Party School, suggested measures for the authorities to use to direct public opinion on the Internet: 1) Release the official voice at the earliest time so as to guide public opinion. 2) For officials: act as ordinary users and participate in cyber communications. 3) Build a “politically strong” “news propaganda troop” – bloggers, twitters, commentators – who will be the opinion leaders in the online world. At the same time, the author suggested that it is imperative for the government to “collect, monitor, analyze, access, and take advantage of Internet public opinion.”
Source: Study Times, March 14, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/03/14/16/16_32.htm