Social Media Discourse Research Articles

Novax or Novak? Estimating Social Media Stance towards Celebrity Vaccine Hesitancy (Student Abstract)

On 15 January 2022, noted tennis player Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia due to his unvaccinated status for the COVID-19 vaccine. This paper presents a stance classifier and evaluates public reaction to this episode and the impact of this behavior on social media discourse on YouTube. We observed a significant spike of individuals who supported and opposed his behavior at the time of the episode. Supporters outnumbered those who opposed this behavior by over 4x. Our study reports a disturbing trend that following every major Djokovic win, even now, vaccine skeptics often conflate his tennis success as a fitting reply to vaccine mandates.

Phonetic loan, graphic borrowing, and script-mixing: key to the vitality of written Cantonese in Hong Kong

Abstract This study aims at investigating how loanwords from Japanese and Korean are used in informal written Cantonese media discourse, including print and social media. Data from these media were collected from designated websites for 15 min every other day over a two-week period. The results show that loanwords from Korean, being written in a phonographic script hangul (한글), are rendered into written Cantonese typically through phonetic adaptation using Chinese morpho-syllables, while their Chinese-specific morphographic meanings are ignored. By contrast, lexical items from Japanese written in kanji tend to be borrowed directly through graphic borrowing, paying no regard to their Japanese pronunciation. Japanese being written with mixed scripts, kanji and two kana syllabaries, graphic borrowing from hiragana or katakana is rare, with the Japanese grammatical particle の being a notable exception. We conclude that lexical items written in a phonographic script tend to be rendered into written Cantonese phonetically, while those written in character-based hànzì are borrowed directly through graphic borrowing but assigned Cantonese pronunciation. In informal interaction between Cantonese-dominant Hongkongers, colloquial written Cantonese relies on the affordance of script mixing for its vitality, in print as much as in internet-mediated social media discourse.

Mrežna diskriminacija u Hrvatskoj

In light of growing research on online misogyny and sexism, this study investigates the online discrimination faced by the first woman president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, who served from 2015 to 2020. Specifically, it examines the Facebook communication of the three leading Croatian news sites, as well as related readers’ comments, pertaining to two events that got excessive media coverage: Grabar-Kitarović’s appearance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and an educational video of the President reading Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking to Croatian children in Sweden. In both cases, Grabar-Kitarović ventured beyond the safety of political discourse and entered what is often seen as a »slippery« territory for women politicians - a space of emotions and celebrity politics. An analysis of the media content established that the analyzed media outlets resorted to ridicule, sexism, and insults to report about Grabar-Kitarović on both occasions. A content analysis of related readers’ comments showed that she was the target of sexist discrimination and aggressive, even violent insults. However, discrimination was overall less present in the readers’ comments than in the media texts. Readers were generally less critical and more appreciative towards Grabar-Kitarović’s display of spontaneity and emotions than the media. This suggests that the informal setting of social media discussions may provide a less hostile environment for women to display their femininity, emotions and private persona compared to traditional media.

Social Media Discourse in Sarawak: An Analysis of Popular Issues and Their Correlation with the Gabungan Parti Sarawak Manifesto in 2021

Social media, notably Facebook, has been reported to be actively used by all, particularly when expressing opposing perspectives on various matters related to Sarawak and Sarawak’s interests. The debate became more interesting during the period of political change in 2018 when Sarawak began to realign its position within a shifting political landscape. Consequently, the realignment had also influenced the framing of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) manifesto during the 2021 Sarawak State Election (SSE21). The article attempts to identify the popular issues circulated in social media and to correlate them with the highlighted issues embedded in the GPS manifesto in SSE21. Data was collected from Facebook from 20 December 2018 to 26 January 2019 through historical data retrieval process. About 197 high-engagement posts were selected as the dataset. Thematic analysis was used in the analytic methods, which was carried out using QSR NVivo 12 Plus. Six main topics were identified that served as focal points of discussion for online discourse in Sarawak: sociocultural topics; economic topics; political topics; development topics; constitutional and legal topics; and border and security topics. Among the topics, three main issues have been identified to be crucial for Sarawakians: (1) constitutional and legal issues – issues that are related to Sarawak rights, Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), and federal and state constitution; (2) sociocultural issues – regional sentiments that are related to the ideals of being a Sarawakian; and (3) political issues – issues of federal-state relations. It is suggested that as the online discussion of the issues gains traction, Sarawakians are observed to be more engaged in topics within the framing of their perceived position within the federation, specifically relating to the preferred position of their identity as Sarawakian first as opposed to Malaysian first. The formation of GPS as a local-based coalition has immensely benefited GPS since it is consistent with its agenda of “Sarawak First”. The study’s findings imply that there is consistency between the topics raised by Sarawakians during Sarawak’s term as an opposition state in 2018 and the themes contained in the GPS manifesto during the SSE21.

The Contributing Factors of High Consumer Loyalty to Jellycat Brand

E-commerce platforms and social media have made brand-consumer connections easier in China. Jellycat has gained social media traffic due to its innovative product design. Jellycat brand products usually attract youthful consumers, who buy them consistently and build brand loyalty. This study examined Jellycat's brand loyalty factors. Consumer behavior, psychology, and marketing theories were used to draw conclusions from Jellycat's purchase data. Factor one: Jellycat's product design, which uses personification and inspiration from everyday objects to make toys, refreshes and gains customers. The essay advises the corporation to closely regulate product quality to attract long-term customers. Second, an emotional bond Jellycat's anthropomorphic toys help consumers who feel stressed and lonely during societal growth form profound emotional bonds. The article advises that the brand formally establish social media discussion groups to strengthen the emotional tie, increase brand-customer interactions, and boost loyalty. Brand recall comes in third. Due to its high traffic and visibility, the brand has a large social media following and is ready to buy. The report suggests Jellycat use social media influencers to boost brand awareness and loyalty.

‘This is the fate of Libyan women:’ contempt, ridicule, and indifference of Seham Sergiwa

ABSTRACT As the debate on how harmful online content translates into violent offline actions continues in the Global North, this debate should be enriched by data from the Global South. In Libya, the kidnapping of a female politician (Seham Sergiwa) in 2019 was arguably foreshadowed on social media, with some analysts warning of an imminent danger to her life when tracking social media discourse in June/July 2019. Following her abduction, the outcry was loud and reverberated outside of Libya. However, this was short lived and similar occurrences happen in Libya still. This paper contributes a systematic analysis of Facebook content in the months leading up to and after Sergiwa’s disappearance. Using thematic content analysis to explore 259 posts and 4,367 comments – between January and December 2019 – this paper outlines three dominant themes: Contempt, ridicule and indifference. This study presents a refocus on the dangers of online speech while acknowledging complexities around categorising the former. The study adds nuanced understandings on online discussions in Libya and gendered dynamics in a violent, post-revolutionary environment.

Sosyal Medyada Kripto Para: Coin Piyasasına Yönelik Dijital Söylemin Analizi

This study delves into the dynamic landscape of public sentiment surrounding cryptocurrency through a comprehensive social media discourse analysis. Employing the Python Selenium library, data from 1000 public profiles across major platforms—X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn—were systematically collected. Using advanced text-mining techniques in R Studio, sentiment analysis was conducted with the ‘Syuzhet’ package and word frequency analysis via the ‘tm’ package. The results unveiled a nuanced emotional landscape characterized by dominant sentiments of anticipation and positivity, interwoven with expressions of negativity, notably anger, and loss. Word frequency analysis highlighted vital themes such as established cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum), blockchain technology, and practical and financial aspects of cryptocurrency usage. The study illuminated technical interest, financial speculation, and reactions to regulatory and economic developments. Offering insights crucial for stakeholders, including investors and policymakers, this research contributes to the academic understanding of public sentiment, emphasizing the volatile nature of crypto-currency markets and the transformative potential of blockchain technology and calls for ongoing monitoring of public sentiment to inform policy, investment, and technological innovation in the ever-evolving cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Conspirituality and meme culture: transgressive dynamics in right-wing esoteric social media discourse

ABSTRACT The article delves into the processes shaping religion on the Internet, aiming to comprehend how content is created and disseminated online. Focusing on contemporary esotericism, especially conspirituality and right-wing esotericism, the study investigates two key mechanisms: transgressive behavior and the remixing and reframing of media in virtual spaces, especially in the form of memes. The analysis explores how these social and technological factors blur the boundaries between sincere adherence and ironic engagement with specific esoteric traditions. By examining these multifaceted dynamics, we can deepen our understanding of how religious actors operate online and Social Media’s impact on the field. The chosen perspective is part of a trend to expand the field of modern esoteric research beyond the consideration of elite discourses.

Theaters, social media, and streams: Evaluating social word-of-mouth patterns of pandemic-era blockbuster films on Twitter

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the U.S. film industry, prompting major studios to release blockbuster films on streaming platforms. This study examines the impact of pandemic-related changes on the film industry by analyzing social media conversations on Twitter as a proxy for success. We introduce a novel metric to measure social word-of-mouth (sWOM) longevity for 40 movies released across different genres and franchises. Results indicate that pandemic-era films experienced shorter sWOM lifespans than pre-pandemic counterparts, and streaming releases generated shorter sWOM conversations than theatrical releases. This suggests that streaming releases risk quicker cultural obsolescence due to limited social media discussion time. This study offers valuable insights for industry practitioners navigating the evolving cinematic landscape.

Exploring #MentholBan on TikTok: A Thematic and Semantic Network Analysis.

In April 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and cigars. Decades of research support the premise that a menthol ban will reduce initiation and disparities in tobacco-related disease among menthol smokers. The tobacco industry opposed such a policy and worked for decades to shape public opposition. Social media discourse can inform our understanding of public opinion about the proposed ban and guide communication strategies and policy implementation. This research employed a mixed-methods design to explore TikTok posts discussing the announced menthol ban. Using a TikTok web scraper to extract all content in the #mentholban hashtag (n = 171), we coded for 11 themes, characterized content with descriptive statistics, and created a semantic network of co-occurring hashtags. We found primarily negative attitudes towards the U.S. ban announcement and a large volume of menthol "hacks" to circumvent the bans. Our semantic network analysis revealed strong co-occurrences between #mentholban and popularity-seeking hashtags. The metadata associated with each TikTok demonstrated that most posters in #mentholban are not "influencers" in the sense of having many followers, aside from a few niche organizations with multiple posts. We found that perceived political and racial motivations shaped posters' assessments of the menthol ban. Furthermore, we uncovered how individuals and organizational actors shaped menthol ban content on TikTok. Our study indicates targeted marketing from alternative menthol product companies and advocacy organizations. The latter of these organizations is more likely to saturate the TikTok landscape with multiple posts and strategic hashtags. This study pursued an exploration of tobacco policy discussion on TikTok, specifically related to the FDA-proposed menthol ban. TikTok is a newer platform and our study provides early evidence of policy discussion emerging there, including the types of accounts creating the content and their valence toward the policy.

Masculinity crisis or gender reconciliation: A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of the effeminate Chinese masculinity debate on social media

Sexism and gender controversies often occur on the internet in contemporary China. The prevalence of male effeminacy is a part of the growing diversity of gender representations. This article investigates the dominant discourses surrounding the debate on male feminization, and netizens’ stance in Chinese social media discourse. By employing corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis, the study identifies four dominant discourses: resistance discourse, anti-discrimination discourse, patriarchal discourse, and nationalistic discourse. These discourses are constructed using various strategies, such as abstraction, authorization, categorization, and morality strategies, and are inextricably intertwined with China’s sociocultural background and broader social contexts. This study offers insights into the clash between conventional and liberal views on ‘soft masculinity’ and exemplifies how Chinese netizens actively leverage social media platforms to express views on gender issues.

Viral Fear or Panic Myth? Emotions in Ebola News and Social Media Responses

The COVID‐19 pandemic has catalyzed debates about how the public and leaders respond to health threats and the role that the media and emotions play in these responses. Predating COVID‐19, the 2014 Ebola outbreak can serve as a case to examine the constructions and pervasiveness of fear discourse and other emotions in news and social media. In this mixed‐method study, we examine fear discourse in web‐based and traditional newspaper headlines and emergent emotions in social media data (Twitter) during the peak of Ebola coverage. Users discuss fear on Twitter in a variety of ways and there was an increase in Tweets following the first Ebola case in the United States. However, it is humor, not fear, that is the most dominant theme in Twitter responses. Claims by health leaders and media scholars, that information technology and social media spread fear, receive limited support. Prevalence of different emotions vary across format (headlines and social media) and have important implications for understanding the myths and realities of public responses to health threats.

Analysis of Public Discussions in Social Media as a Method for Studying Social Issues

The study of social problems using the analysis of the public sphere gained scientific legitimacy with the constructivist approach during the era when television was the predominant medium. The advent of social media has transformed the public space, altering the way in which discussions concerning social issues are organized. This article examines the advantages and limitations of constructivism in studying social problems and the elements constituting public discussions on social media. We searched whether analyzing public discourse could reveal the persistence of social issues. To exemplify the use of this method for studying discussions on social media, we analyzed how network users discussed the issue of personnel shortages, from November 2022 to February 2023. During this period, the most pressing issues proved to be shortages of professionals in healthcare, housing and communal services, secondary education, transport, defense industry and IT sectors.
 The research indicates that a crucial marker of a persistent social problem in people’s daily lives is the involvement of “ordinary” citizens as speakers who draw significant attention to the issue. This finding corroborates the democratizing impact of social media on the structure of the public sphere.

We didn't know it was that bad: Unearthing parent perspectives on Universal Pre-K policy

Families are the ultimate recipients of the effects of policy, but seldom get a seat at the policymaking table. This study investigated how parents perceive the impacts of unequal teacher compensation policies on New York City’s (NYC) Universal Pre-K (UPK) expansion. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems theory and Schneider and Ingram’s (1993) theory of social construction and policy design to create a rich conceptual framework, this qualitative study analyzed parents' voices through document and social media discourse analysis expanding from 2014 to 2021, and semi-structured interviews (n=15). Participants reflected the demographic diversity found in NYC, the largest school system in the country. The data analysis occurred in three sequential stages: (a) content analysis of documents, (b) thematic analysis of interview data, and (c) compilation of findings from these analyses to draw comprehensive conclusions. Findings revealed that while parents had limited engagement with policy, they were able to articulate the detrimental effects of compensation policies—particularly the effect of teacher turnover on their daily lives—with a disproportional effect on parents of racially minoritized backgrounds or living in low-income neighborhoods. The rich interviews unearthed the dissonance between the policy’s intent and its effect on perpetuating racial and socio-economic biases. Recommendations for advocacy and engagement are provided.

Don’t Look Up Climate Change Dooming Boomers, Nihilistic Teenagers and Underfunded Scientists Against/For the World

Representations of the global climate crisis have permeated popular culture for over half a decade. We passively watch the environmental crisis unfold in entertainment media as the ecological collapse continues to forge on, seemingly inexorably. Adam McKay’s satirical apocalypse film Don’t Look Up (2021) delineates generational differences in social/political activism and non‑activism, participation in social media discussions about climate change, blaming others and taking responsibility for the climate emergency. This article shows that the film’s allegorical climate apocalypse represents a satire of intergenerational (climate) crisis communication, misinformation, and denial in contemporary US‑American news, popular media, and political discourse. The movie achieves this through intergenerational ideas and values and a satirical allegory that represents the climate crisis in various discursive fields.

(263) Evaluating Changes in Social Media Discussions Regarding Vasectomies Before and After The Dobbs V. Jackson Supreme Court Decision

Abstract Introduction In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case establishing a federally protected right to abortion, through the case Dobbs v. Jackson. Subsequent research has demonstrated an increase in the number of men seeking vasectomy consultations as men take more ownership of family planning. We hypothesized that there might be a similar, paralleled change in online discussions about vasectomy following the court’s decision. Objective We sought to characterize themes and tones in social media discussions regarding vasectomies before and after the Dobbs decision. Methods We analyzed vasectomy-related discussions on Reddit, a large social media platform, using qualitative analysis and natural language processing-based sentiment analysis. Using the Reddit API, 1000 posts from 1 year before Dobbs and 1 year after were extracted from the subreddit group r/vasectomy. The group has 13,400 active members. Qualitative analysis was performed to determine overall themes within discussion posts. Poster age and comments about male sexual dysfunction were noted. Sentiment analysis was performed using the validated software VADER, which is specifically tuned expressions on social media platforms and assigns posts scores that can be interpreted as having positive, neutral, or negative sentiments. Results 213 total posts (107 pre-Dobbs and 106 post-Dobbs) were randomly selected for thematic and sentiment analysis. Posters in the post-Dobbs period were significantly younger than posters in the pre-Dobbs period (25.5 years vs. 31.7 years, p = 0.05). Posters in the post-Dobbs period were also more likely to mention their sexual dysfunction or raise questions regarding their sexual function post-operatively (p = 0.03). Notable discussion themes pre-Dobbs focused on post-operative concerns (n = 31), actionable advice (n = 38), or second opinions (n = 50). Patients also sought to reflect upon their experiences with their vasectomy (n = 30). While similar themes were noted post-Dobbs, more posts focused on describing pre-operative anxieties (n = 36), raising second thoughts regarding a scheduled vasectomy (n = 36), and acknowledging in some way the importance or value of having an online community such as r/vasectomy (n = 60). There was no significant difference in the length of posts (p = 0.44) or the number of positive, neutral, or negative sentiment posts (p = 0.98) between time periods. Conclusions Online discussion forums may provide insight into patients’ experiences with vasectomies during a contentious sociopolitical time when contraceptive options are changing. After the Dobbs decision, patients seemed to express increased pre-operative anxiety and doubt regarding their decisions to get vasectomies, but also expressed greater appreciation for the online community in r/vasectomy. This overall mix of feelings may explain any lack of difference in positive and negative sentiment in posts between the time periods. Disclosure No.

Sentiment analysis and implementation in film evaluation utilizing BERT

This study explores the use of the dmsc_v2 dataset, which is a rich collection of over 2 million ratings and commentary data from over 700,000 users on 28 films, to train the BERT model for sentiment analysis. This expansive dataset, drawn from the popular Chinese movie-rating website, Douban, has been meticulously curated for this research. In the context of the methodology, it is comprehensive and involves multiple stages. Initially, data preprocessing is conducted to refine and format the dataset suitably for model training. Subsequently, the BERT model is trained using the prepared data. Following the training process, the model's performance is critically evaluated to validate its efficacy and accuracy. The resulting model is adept at performing sentiment classification on comments pertaining to films across various social media platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and more. This is particularly beneficial as it enables a nuanced analysis of user opinions and trending topics, offering invaluable insights for businesses, movie producers, or marketers. The findings of this study demonstrate that the BERT sentiment analysis model, developed with the dmsc_v2 dataset, exhibits impressive performance and has expansive potential for application within the sphere of social media commentary analysis. The successful development and validation of this model underscore its potential to transform the way sentiment analysis is conducted, especially in the context of entertainment and social media discussions.

Graduation Resources in News Discourse: Calls for the British Museum to Return Chinese Cultural Artefacts

Using a discourse approach, this study examines online news and opinion pieces about calls for the British Museum to return Chinese artefacts. We examine the interpersonal meanings conveyed by the linguistic choices made in these texts. This study uses the appraisal system in the systemic functional linguistic (SFL) framework to examine how news discourse addresses the issue and constructs interpersonal meanings. Graduation resources, as a subcategory of appraisal system, can underpin the degree of meanings and perspectives, allowing writers to adjust the gradability of attitudinal meanings conveyed to readers. This research first examines how the writer’s voice is embedded in graduation resources, and later, how these graduation resources are used in online news articles calling for the return of the artefacts. This study also examines how online newspapers covered a short film by vloggers called “Escape from the British Museum”, which sparked massive social media reactions, offering new perspectives on how social media and traditional news organisations interact to construct meanings through language. The results show that quantification and fulfilment (completion) resources are the two most common subcategories of graduation resources. The findings shed light on the language strategies used in news and social media discourse, as well as the interpersonal meanings behind such requests for cultural heritage repatriation.

A quantitative analysis of Twitter ("X") trends in the discussion of rhinoplasty.

Rhinoplasty is one of the most common cosmetic surgical procedures performed globally. Twitter, also known as "X," is used by both patients and physicians and has been studied as a useful tool for analyzing trends in healthcare. The public social media discourse of rhinoplasty has not been previously reported in the field of otolaryngology. The goal of this study was to characterize the most common user type, sentiment, and temporal trends in the discussion of rhinoplasty on Twitter to guide facial plastic surgeons in their clinical and social media practices. A total of 1,427,015 tweets published from 2015 to 2020 containing the keywords "rhinoplasty" or "nose job" were extracted using Twitter Academic API. Tweets were standardized and filtered for spam and duplication. Natural language processing (NLP) algorithms and data visualization techniques were applied to characterize tweets. Significantly more "nose job" tweets (80.8%) were published compared with "rhinoplasty" (19.2%). Annual tweet frequency increased over the 5 years, with "rhinoplasty" tweets peaking in January and "nose job" tweets peaking in the summer and winter months. Most "rhinoplasty" tweets were linked to a surgeon or medical practice source, while most "nose job" tweets were from isolated laypersons. While discussion was positive in sentiment overall (M = +0.08), "nose job" tweets had lower average sentiment scores (P < .001) and over twice the proportion of negative tweets. The top 20 most prolific accounts contributed to 14,758 (10.6%) of total "rhinoplasty" tweets. Exactly 90% (18/20) of those accounts linked to non-academic surgeons compared with 10% (2/20) linked to academic surgeons. Rhinoplasty-related posts on Twitter were cumulatively positive in sentiment and tweet volume is steadily increasing over time, especially during popular holiday months. The search term "nose job" yields significantly more results than "rhinoplasty," and is the preferred term of non-healthcare users. We found a large digital contribution from surgeons and medical practices, particularly in the non-academic and private practice sector, utilizing Twitter for promotional purposes.

Perceptions of the Agency and Responsibility of the NHS COVID-19 App on Twitter: Critical Discourse Analysis.

Since September 2020, the National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 contact-tracing app has been used to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. Since its launch, this app has been a part of the discussion regarding the perceived social agency of decision-making algorithms. On the social media website Twitter, a plethora of views about the app have been found but only analyzed for sentiment and topic trajectories thus far, leaving the perceived social agency of the app underexplored. We aimed to examine the discussion of social agency in social media public discourse regarding algorithm-operated decisions, particularly when the artificial intelligence agency responsible for specific information systems is not openly disclosed in an example such as the COVID-19 contact-tracing app. To do this, we analyzed the presentation of the NHS COVID-19 App on Twitter, focusing on the portrayal of social agency and the impact of its deployment on society. We also aimed to discover what the presentation of social agents communicates about the perceived responsibility of the app. Using corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis, underpinned by social actor representation, we used the link between grammatical and social agency and analyzed a corpus of 118,316 tweets from September 2020 to July 2021 to see whether the app was portrayed as a social actor. We found that active presentations of the app-seen mainly through personalization and agency metaphor-dominated the discourse. The app was presented as a social actor in 96% of the cases considered and grew in proportion to passive presentations over time. These active presentations showed the app to be a social actor in 5 main ways: informing, instructing, providing permission, disrupting, and functioning. We found a small number of occasions on which the app was presented passively through backgrounding and exclusion. Twitter users presented the NHS COVID-19 App as an active social actor with a clear sense of social agency. The study also revealed that Twitter users perceived the app as responsible for their welfare, particularly when it provided instructions or permission, and this perception remained consistent throughout the discourse, particularly during significant events. Overall, this study contributes to understanding how social agency is discussed in social media discourse related to algorithmic-operated decisions This research offers valuable insights into public perceptions of decision-making digital contact-tracing health care technologies and their perceptions on the web, which, even in a postpandemic world, may shed light on how the public might respond to forthcoming interventions.