Contesting for Consensus: Social Sentiment Towards Fellow Citizens’ COVID-Related Behavior in China

Forthcoming: in Book "Pandemic Narratives in China and the World: Technology, Society, and Nations”, edited by Bingchun Meng, Guobin Yang, and Elaine Yuan

38 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2022

See all articles by Yan Wang

Yan Wang

Lancaster University; London School of Economics

Yuxi Zhang

School of Public Policy

Date Written: February 22, 2022

Abstract

COVID-19 has profoundly shifted how citizens interact. Private life is frequently displayed in the public space, and individuals are held to account should their exercise of liberty enlarge COVID-19 transmission risks. We are interested in the evolving dynamics among fellow citizens, especially when and how individuals react to others’ COVID-19 related actions and behaviors. An extensive data set of Sina Weibo posts consisting of more than four million COVID-19-related posts provides us with a lens with which to answer the questions. By estimating the general sentiment of Weibo posts from January to December 2020, as well as examining two in-depth case studies, we capture the information flows and discussion volumes in the public space. Combining the machine learning approach with discourse analysis, we find that the psychosocial cycle model identified in past public health emergencies and other societies during the COVID-19 pandemic also occurred in China, though demonstrating unique timing and sequence characteristics that are linked to China’s pandemic situation and policies. The all-society solidarity built at the beginning of 2020 was later challenged, and potentially eroded by the process of moralizing fellow citizens’ COVID-related behavior via blaming, discriminating, and scapegoating. As society lives under the pandemic for longer, fellow citizens have become more aware of problems associated with the unbounded public scrutiny of private life. Such awareness and reflection, herein, encourages discussion and consensus-building efforts.

Keywords: Social solidarity; Cyberspace; COVID-19; China

Suggested Citation

Wang, Yan and Zhang, Yuxi, Contesting for Consensus: Social Sentiment Towards Fellow Citizens’ COVID-Related Behavior in China (February 22, 2022). Forthcoming: in Book "Pandemic Narratives in China and the World: Technology, Society, and Nations”, edited by Bingchun Meng, Guobin Yang, and Elaine Yuan, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4083830 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4083830

Yan Wang (Contact Author)

Lancaster University ( email )

Lancaster LA1 4YX
United Kingdom

London School of Economics ( email )

5.22 Centre Building
Houghton Street
LONDON, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.lse.ac.uk/school-of-public-policy/people

Yuxi Zhang

School of Public Policy ( email )

United Kingdom

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