Misalignment and Reconstruction of Landscape Architecture's Image on Social Media:A Case Study Based on Zhihu and Rednote

LIU Kang; CHEN Chongxian; LI Luyao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-0232.2025.07.010

Abstract：With the rapid development of social media,media platforms have become important bridges,channels,and references for understanding the external world.A deep analysis of the image characteristics of landscape architecture on internet social media and its complex influences,holds significant importance for the existing positioning and future development of landscape architecture in media society from a subject to an industry.This study used hotspot content(over 1,000 likes)related to"landscape design"on two representative emerging social media platforms,Zhihu and Rednote,as analysis samples.For the methodology,propagation paths were analyzed by combining Lasswell's Five-Element Model with the"opinion leader"theory in communication studies.Quantitative statistics were carried out using big data analysis tools like FineBI.Moreover,the media image exhibition features and construction mechanism of landscape architecture were systematically analyzed using critical discourse analysis(CDA)from the perspectives of intuitive impressions,knowledge representation,and social practices. This study found that landscape architecture presents various media image characteristics on social media platforms,such as"lagging and marginalization","simplification and height decreasing",and"urban wonders and industrial disorders",which deviate from disciplinary development status and professional knowledge connotations. Details are introduced as follows: (1)Regarding intuitive impressions,discussions primarily focus on perceptual experience and industrial anxiety but pay little attention to academic research directions. (2)Regarding knowledge representation,professional knowledge is simplified into visual expressions and operation skills,lacking leading theories and technological discussions,thus causing misunderstanding of"low threshold". (3)Regarding social practice,design works are expressed as wonders,and industrial ecological issues are amplified through emotional narration,which further intensifies public misunderstanding and negative cognition of the industry. Further analysis revealed that such media image dislocation is influenced not only by technological factors like the dominance of platform algorithms and disordered mechanism of transmission,but also thoroughly reflects structural shortages of the landscape architecture discipline and industry in terms of a knowledge spreading mechanism,the establishment of the right of speech,and practice norms. To respond to challenges in knowledge spreading brought by social media and the dislocated building of the disciplinary image,the study suggests reconstructing disciplinary media images of landscape architecture via three aspects:(1)promoting the systematic intervention of disciplinary structure and industrial organization,strengthening knowledge system dissemination and public discourse expression;(2)improving media awareness and expression ability of professional members,realizing the transition from"passive misreading"to"positive construction";and(3)building a knowledge spreading matrix with multi-platform cooperation,and systematically constructing a public-oriented knowledge spreading mechanism by integrating media such as illustrations,videos,and live broadcasting.The aim is to build a disciplinary image of landscape architecture with both professional depth and public influence in the mediated society.Limited by sample selection and differences among platforms,this study focuses only on highly-liked content on Zhihu and Rednote,and does not comprehensively cover the diversified expression of landscape architecture in more extensive social media contexts.Moreover,the dynamic process of media image over time was ignored.Future studies could increase time span and multimodal data to analyze user behaviors and compare differences across various social media platforms.This would more systematically disclose the generation logics and cognitive mechanisms of landscape architecture's media images,and provide more specific knowledge spreading strategies for disciplinary theory establishment and practice transformation in the digital era.