| Summary/Abstract |
Social media depiction of crises can mobilize people's support for or dissatisfaction with the government. By analyzing 3,799 videos, this study compares how pro-democracy and pro-regime opinion leaders framed the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. The results reveal that pro-democracy opinion leaders placed the primary blame for the crisis on the misadministration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities, followed by attributing responsibilities to the Chinese authorities, and then suggesting opportunities for foreign penalties to be imposed on China. Pro-regime opinion leaders mostly criticize the opposition, denounce foreign countries, and seek to garner support for China. The conclusion strongly supports the thesis that opinion leaders and users from both camps actively engage with negatively framed content rather than positively framed content. Specifically, videos that frame foreign pressure on China demonstrate statistically significant explanatory power in relation to the engagement of prodemocracy users, while videos denouncing pro-democracy figures exhibit statistically significant explanatory power in regard to the engagement of pro-regime users. This article explores which negative topics can stimulate the audience's engagement and it compares the significant variations in framing strategies employed by either of the opposing factions when targeting their opponents. The case of Hong Kong illustrates how social media framing contributes to the emergence of "political extremism" in a polarized society.
|