DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2019.v07i05.005

Pages: 331–335

The specific mechanism of Internet influence on political trust is an important policy issue of network governance, and there are insufficient studies to explain its mechanism. Based on the statistical analysis of the 2012 World Values Survey data, this paper finds that traditional media trust plays a mediating role between the Internet usage and political trust. Political interest moderates the strength of the relationship between Internet use and political trust. This paper concludes that internet has some “push effect” versus traditional media in the political communication area. We also find that citizens with higher political interest are more persistent to rumors, which means that they are less likely to “the spiral of silence”. Enhancing the influence of traditional media and the ability to agendas-setting, and cultivating rational citizens through the process of political socialization is an important means of network governance in the new era.