IntroductionThe last decade and a half has witnessed the meteoric development of social media and social media research literature. Although it is a relatively new phenomenon, researchers have explored social media at various levels and aspects, including the definitions and characteristics of social media, the usefulness of social media in interpersonal communication, the use of social media to promote political engagement, public health, social media strategy in organizational communication. (Leonardi, Huysman & Steinfield, 2013) marketing (Holly, 2013) image management, etc. Although the definition of social media is still a subject of heated discussion, it is widely accepted that social media is based on Web 2.0 and that one of its key features is user-generated information. Since the control of the information flow is in the hands of the user, the user can create profiles, post content, comment and delete content. Previous research has explored the impacts of many behaviors on social media. However, research has not yet explored social media deletion, which is a very common phenomenon on social media. By conducting a semi-Facebook online experiment and collecting self-reported information on social media deletion, this study examined how deletion is perceived by the public and how different forms of deletion on social media impact trust, credibility and public trust in an organization. (One paragraph summary of the result)Literature ReviewDefining Social MediaThe concept of social media suppression cannot be understood without knowing the definition of social media. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, social media are "forms of electronic communication (such as social networking and microblogging websites) through which users create online communications...... middle of paper." ..... reliability and validity of a pilot study was conducted. Participants were students from two undergraduate classes involving both Chinese and non-Chinese students. (N = 47, 14 Chinese students and 33 non-Chinese students) Participants were asked to read a printout of a micro blog thread containing 15 Sina Weibo posts, three of which involved user removal , one involved censorship and one claimed to be involved in suppression. but in reality no and others were ordinary positions. After reading the thread, participants were asked to complete a survey measuring awareness, transparency, homophily, and generalized belief. The pilot study shows that about half of the deletions can be recognized by students. The measure we used held up well, but several items were removed from the measurement scale. The items retained in the final scale are visible in Appendix I.