Engagement in Emotional News on Social Media: Intensity and Type of Emotions

2020 ◽  
pp. 107769902095971
Author(s):  
Jihyang Choi ◽  
Sang Yup Lee ◽  
Sung Wook Ji
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Discrete Emotions ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
The Relationship

This study sheds new light on the relationship between emotion and engagement. Specifically, we investigate how the six discrete emotions that news visuals deliver, as well as the positiveness of news text, are associated with three engagement activities: sharing, commenting, and reacting. The findings show that users are less likely to share or comment on news posts that convey positive emotions, although they tend to react to such news frequently. The most prominent kind of emotion associated with user engagement activities was “sadness.” We analyzed 12,179 news stories posted on the four major U.S. newspapers’ Facebook pages.

scholarly journals When “Positive Posting” Attracts Voters: User Engagement and Emotions in the 2017 UK Election Campaign on Facebook

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630511988169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Gerbaudo ◽  
Federico Marogna ◽  
Chiara Alzetta
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Media Politics ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Theresa May

Social media are widely held to have played an important role in the 2017 UK general elections. But it is not altogether clear how exactly they contributed to the communication battle between Labour and the Conservatives. This article analyses the posts and comments on the official Facebook pages of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party and their respective leaders, Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May. We look at the relationship between topics, emotions, and user engagement. Labour clearly outperformed the Tories, with Corbyn’s personal page having 10 times the interactions of May’s. We retrieve part of the reason for this success in the “positive posting” strategy adopted by Labour and the way it helped to attract user engagement. While the Conservative Party focused on negative issues such as Brexit, terrorism, and national security, Labour focused on positive issues, such as the promise of higher social spending and appeals to the grassroots, generating far higher levels of engagement. Overall, positive topic tended to fare better than more negative and controversial issues, such as security and Brexit. Our findings thus suggest the need for a more balanced understanding of the relationship between content, emotions, and user engagement on social media, moving beyond simplistic views of social media politics as necessarily biased in favor of aggressive and negative campaigning.

scholarly journals The emotional antecedents of solidarity in social media crowds

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 3700-3719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Margolin ◽  
Wang Liao
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
National Football League ◽  
Organizational Dynamics ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Discrete Emotion ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Emotional Antecedents

This study examines the organizational dynamics of social media crowds, in particular, the influence of a crowd’s emotional expression on its solidarity. To identify the relationship between emotions expressed and solidarity, marked by sustained participation in the crowd, the study uses tweets from a unique population of crowds—those tweeting about ongoing National Football League games. Observing this population permits the use of game results as quasi-random treatments on crowds, helping to reduce confounding factors. Results indicate that participation in these crowds is self-sustaining in the medium term (1 week) and can be stimulated or suppressed by emotional expression in a short term (1 hour), depending on the discrete emotion expressed. In particular, anger encourages participation while sadness discourages it. Positive emotions and anxiety have a more nuanced relationship with participation.

scholarly journals Contrapuntal Connectedness: Analysing Relations Between Social Media Data and Ethnography in Digital Migration Studies

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-85
Author(s):  
Marie Sandberg ◽  
Nina Grønlykke Mollerup ◽  
Luca Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Migration Studies ◽  
Social Data ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Migration Research ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Media Data

AbstractThis chapter presents a rethinking of the relationship between ethnography and so-called big social data as being comparable to those between a sum and its parts (Strathern 1991/2004). Taking cue from Tim Ingold’s one world anthropology (2018) the chapter argues that relations between ethnography and social media data can be established as contrapuntal. That is, the types of material are understood as different, yet fundamentally interconnected. The chapter explores and qualifies this affinity with the aim of identifying potentials and further questions for digital migration research. The chapter is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out with Syrian refugees and solidarians in the Danish–Swedish borderlands in 2018–2019 as well as data collected for 2011–2018 from 200 public Facebook pages run by solidarity organisations, NGOs, and informal refugee welcome and solidarity groups.

scholarly journals DETECTING COORDINATED LINK SHARING BEHAVIOR ON FACEBOOK DURING THE ITALIAN CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Giglietto ◽  
Nicola Righetti ◽  
Giada Marino
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Media Manipulation ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Sharing Behavior ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

Social media, as many scholars have shown, can be used to influence political behavior through coordinated disinformation campaigns in which participants pretend to be ordinary citizens. With a specific reference to Facebook, a recent study has spotlighted patterns of coordinated activity aimed at fueling online circulation of specific news stories before the 2018 and 2019 Italian elections, an activity called by the authors “Coordinated Link Sharing Behavior” (CLSB). More precisely, CLSB refers to the coordinated shares of the same news articles in a very short time by networks of entities composed by Facebook pages, groups and verified public profiles. The uncertainty related to the coronavirus outbreak is a unique chance for malicious actors to leverage the anxiety of online publics to reach their goals, filling the information void with problematic content. Considering the association between coordination, media manipulation, and problematic information, the entities involved in coordinated online activities represent a privileged perspective on these phenomena. Thus, against the backdrop of the literature and the already conducted studies, this proposal will discuss Coordinated Link Sharing Behavior in the context of the coronavirus outbreak informational void, analyzing network mutations over time and the content strategies used to exploit the ambiguity associated with the topic.

The alchemy of social media engagement

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 14-16
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Day Of The Week ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Low Rate

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The findings demonstrate a low rate of engagement among the users of wine brand Facebook pages. Majority of Facebook fans rarely engage with the brands. The results demonstrate that user engagement varies depending on the day of the week and hour of the day of the brand post. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

scholarly journals Associations between State-Level Obesity Rates, Engagement with Food Brands on Social Media, and Hashtag Usage

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12785
Author(s):  
Yuanqi Gu ◽  
Jaime Coffino ◽  
Rebecca Boswell ◽  
Zora Hall ◽  
Marie A. Bragg
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Low Calorie ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Sugary Drink ◽  
The Relationship

Food advertisement exposure is associated with increased caloric intake, but little is known about food/beverage placements in the digital media environment. We aimed to examine the correlation between the number of people who follow food and beverage brand social media accounts (i.e., user engagement) and state-level obesity rates; quantify social media followers’ use of “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” hashtags; and analyze the relationship between user engagement and hashtag usage. We identified the 26 fast-food and beverage brands with the highest advertising expenditures and used Demographics Pro to determine the characteristics of social media users amongst the 26 brands. A series of regression analyses were conducted that related the mean percentage of brand followers and state-level obesity rates. We then identified 733 hashtags on Instagram and 703 hashtags on Twitter, coding them as “healthy”, “unhealthy”, “neutral”, or “unrelated to health”. Intercoder reliability was established using ReCal2, which indicated a 90% agreement between coders. Finally, we conducted ANCOVA to examine the relationship between the mean percentage of brand followers and their hashtag usage. There was a significant, positive correlation between the state-level obesity rate and the mean percentage of followers of sugary drink or fast-food brands on Instagram and Twitter, but such a correlation between obesity and low-calorie drink brand followers was only found on Twitter. Our findings illustrate the relationship between the social media food environment and obesity rates in the United States. Given the high rates of engagement with food brands on social media, policies should limit digital advertisements featuring fast-food, sugary drink, and low-calorie drink brands.

scholarly journals COVID-19 news reporting and engaging in the age of social media: Comparing Xinhua News Agency and The Paper

2021 ◽  
pp. 205943642110173
Author(s):  
Zenan Chen ◽  
Xiaoge Xu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Special Form ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
New Normal ◽  
News Reporting ◽  
News Stories ◽  
News Agency ◽  
Xinhua News Agency

“To follow and to be followed” has become the new normal in news communication in the age of social media. News audience follow news via social media while they are being followed by news anytime anywhere. This new normal has created a pressing need to investigate whether social media have brought any changes to both party-controlled and market-oriented news media in China in reporting crises. Comparing Xinhua News Agency (party-controlled) and The Paper (market-oriented), this study investigated how they reported COVID-19 and how their news consumers engaged with their COVID-19 news stories on Jinri Toutiao, a popular and yet special form of social media. This study found that Xinhua News Agency continued to stay overwhelmingly positive, while The Paper was more neutral in reporting the health crisis. Xinhua News Agency was surprisingly more episodic than The Paper in framing the pandemic. The Paper, however, had a higher level of user engagement than Xinhua News Agency. To cater to the changing news-seeking behaviors and patterns, both party-controlled and market-oriented news media have changed their operations, but not their fundamental orientations.

scholarly journals Empathy Cultivation through (Pro)Social Media: A Counter to Compassion Fatigue

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 819-829
Author(s):  
Jessica Roberts
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Compassion Fatigue ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Linguistic Inquiry Word Count ◽  
Social Empathy ◽  
Linguistic Inquiry

While a sizable body of literature suggests that repeated exposure to images of suffering may provoke compassion fatigue and news avoidance in audiences, this paper examines whether a different kind of representation can allow viewers to connect with the subjects of media coverage, cultivating empathy for them. The hope is that understanding the emotional impact of the way people are represented in news stories will help journalists better serve the public’s need for what Schudson called “social empathy”, “stories that—often in a human-interest vein—inform citizens about neighbors and groups they may not know or understand” and create a space where audiences can express positive emotions about their fellow citizens. This paper considers the reactions of followers of the “Humans of New York” (HONY) social media feed to the subjects of the feed’s posts, who are not portrayed as tragic victims, but humanized through portrayals of commonplace concerns, such as family, career, and romantic relationships. Comments on more than 8000 HONY posts over a year were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count program. Results indicate that comments on HONY are overwhelmingly positive and socially oriented, suggesting that this type of representation may be effective in countering compassion fatigue and allowing for better social connection.

scholarly journals What People �Like�: Analysis of Social Media Strategies Used by Food Industry Brands, Lifestyle Brands, and Health Promotion Organizations on Facebook and Instagram (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Michelle Klassen ◽  
Emily S Borleis ◽  
Linda Brennan ◽  
Mike Reid ◽  
Tracy A McCaffrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Food Content

BACKGROUND Health campaigns have struggled to gain traction with young adults using social media, even though more than 80% of young adults are using social media at least once per day. Many food industry and lifestyle brands have been successful in achieving high levels of user engagement and promoting their messages; therefore, there may be lessons to be learned by examining the successful strategies commercial brands employ. OBJECTIVE This study aims to identify and quantify social media strategies used by the food industry and lifestyle brands, and health promotion organizations across the social networking sites Facebook and Instagram. METHODS The six most engaging posts from the 10 most popular food industry and lifestyle brands and six health promotion organizations were included in this study. A coding framework was developed to categorize social media strategies, and engagement metrics were collected. Exploratory linear regression models were used to examine associations between strategies used and interactions on Facebook and Instagram. RESULTS Posts from Facebook (143/227, 63.0%) and Instagram (84/227, 37.0%) were included. Photos (64%) and videos (34%) were used to enhance most posts. Different strategies were most effective for Facebook and Instagram. Strategies associated with higher Facebook interactions included links to purchasable items (beta=0.81, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.13, P<.001) featuring body image messages compared with food content (beta=1.96, 95% CI 1.29 to 2.64, P<.001), and where the content induced positive emotions (beta=0.31, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.57, P=.02). Facebook interactions were negatively associated with using pop culture (beta=–0.67, 95% CI –0.99 to –0.34, P<.001), storytelling (beta=–0.86, 95% CI –1.29 to –0.43, P<.001) or visually appealing graphics (beta=–0.53, 95% CI –0.78 to –0.28, P<.001) in their posts compared with other strategies. Posting relatable content was negatively associated with interactions on Facebook (beta=–0.29, 95% CI –0.53 to –0.06, P=.01), but positively associated on Instagram (beta=0.50, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.95, P=.03). Instagram interactions were negatively associated with weight loss (beta=–1.45, 95% CI –2.69 to –0.21, P=.02) and other content (beta=–0.81, 95% CI –1.57 to –.06, P=.04) compared with food content. CONCLUSIONS Health promotion professionals and organizations can improve engagement using positive messaging and tailoring posts appropriate for different social media channels.

scholarly journals Relationship Cultivation via Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From China and the U.S

2022 ◽  
pp. 232948842110678
Author(s):  
Qiongyao Huang ◽  
Benjamin J. Lynn ◽  
Chuqing Dong ◽  
Shijun Ni ◽  
Linjuan Rita Men
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Fortune 500 Companies ◽  
Chinese Companies ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The U.S

This study explored the relationship cultivation and social media strategies companies used to cultivate relationships with their publics in two culturally distinct markets of China and the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative content analysis of Weibo ( n = 756) and Twitter ( n = 645) posts from Fortune 500 companies in China ( n = 30) and the U.S. ( n = 30) respectively was conducted to examine the effects of their relational efforts on public engagement. Results showed that certain relationship cultivation strategies and use of social media functions effectively increased public engagement in both China and the U.S., although on different levels. Both Chinese and U.S. companies most frequently adopted the strategy of openness. While the openness strategy was most effective at raising engagement levels in the U.S., publics of Chinese companies became more engaged when companies used the access strategy. Also, publics of Chinese companies showed higher levels of engagement and more positive emotions toward companies’ social media messages than their U.S. counterparts. The findings advance our understanding of organization-public relationships in a worldwide disaster setting, with insights informing the global public relations theory and practices.

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