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How Dramatic Events Can Affect Emotionality in Social Posting: The Impact of COVID-19 on Reddit

Author

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  • Valerio Basile

    (Department of Computer Science, University of Turin, I10124 Torino, Italy)

  • Francesco Cauteruccio

    (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Calabria, I87036 Rende, Italy)

  • Giorgio Terracina

    (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Calabria, I87036 Rende, Italy)

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak impacted almost all the aspects of ordinary life. In this context, social networks quickly started playing the role of a sounding board for the content produced by people. Studying how dramatic events affect the way people interact with each other and react to poorly known situations is recognized as a relevant research task. Since automatically identifying country-based COVID-19 social posts on generalized social networks, like Twitter and Facebook, is a difficult task, in this work we concentrate on Reddit megathreads, which provide a unique opportunity to study focused reactions of people by both topic and country. We analyze specific reactions and we compare them with a “normal” period, not affected by the pandemic; in particular, we consider structural variations in social posting behavior, emotional reactions under the Plutchik model of basic emotions, and emotional reactions under unconventional emotions, such as skepticism, particularly relevant in the COVID-19 context.

Suggested Citation

  • Valerio Basile & Francesco Cauteruccio & Giorgio Terracina, 2021. "How Dramatic Events Can Affect Emotionality in Social Posting: The Impact of COVID-19 on Reddit," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-32, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:29-:d:487606
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Theresa Kuchler & Dominic Russel & Johannes Stroebel, 2020. "The Geographic Spread of COVID-19 Correlates with the Structure of Social Networks as Measured by Facebook," NBER Working Papers 26990, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Per Block & Marion Hoffman & Isabel J. Raabe & Jennifer Beam Dowd & Charles Rahal & Ridhi Kashyap & Melinda C. Mills, 2020. "Social network-based distancing strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve in a post-lockdown world," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(6), pages 588-596, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jinhai Li & Yunlei Ma & Xinglong Xu & Jiaming Pei & Youshi He, 2022. "A Study on Epidemic Information Screening, Prevention and Control of Public Opinion Based on Health and Medical Big Data: A Case Study of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-21, August.

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