Rejection or Inclusion in the Emotion-Identity Dynamics of TikTok Refugees on RedNote

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Mingchen, Xu, Wenbo, Gu, Wenqing, Xie, Yixuan, Zhou, Yao, Dai, Yunsong, Tan, Cheng, Hui, Pan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908456862089216
author Li, Mingchen
Xu, Wenbo
Gu, Wenqing
Xie, Yixuan
Zhou, Yao
Dai, Yunsong
Tan, Cheng
Hui, Pan
author_facet Li, Mingchen
Xu, Wenbo
Gu, Wenqing
Xie, Yixuan
Zhou, Yao
Dai, Yunsong
Tan, Cheng
Hui, Pan
contents This study examines cross-cultural interactions between Chinese users and self-identified "TikTok Refugees"(foreign users who migrated to RedNote after TikTok's U.S. ban). Based on a dataset of 1,862 posts and 403,054 comments, we use large language model-based sentiment classification and BERT-based topic modelling to explore how both groups engage with the TikTok refugee phenomenon. We analyse what themes foreign users express, how Chinese users respond, how stances (Pro-China, Neutral, Pro-Foreign) shape emotional expression, and how affective responses differ across topics and identities. Results show strong affective asymmetry: Chinese users respond with varying emotional intensities across topics and stances: pride and praise dominate cultural threads, while political discussions elicit high levels of contempt and anger, especially from Pro-China commenters. Pro-Foreign users exhibit the strongest negative emotions across all topics, whereas neutral users express curiosity and joy but still reinforce mainstream discursive norms. Cross-topic comparisons reveal that appearance-related content produces the most emotionally balanced interactions, while politics generates the highest polarization. Our findings reveal distinct emotion-stance structures in Sino-foreign online interactions and offer empirical insights into identity negotiation in transnational digital publics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_14623
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Rejection or Inclusion in the Emotion-Identity Dynamics of TikTok Refugees on RedNote
Li, Mingchen
Xu, Wenbo
Gu, Wenqing
Xie, Yixuan
Zhou, Yao
Dai, Yunsong
Tan, Cheng
Hui, Pan
Social and Information Networks
Computers and Society
Human-Computer Interaction
This study examines cross-cultural interactions between Chinese users and self-identified "TikTok Refugees"(foreign users who migrated to RedNote after TikTok's U.S. ban). Based on a dataset of 1,862 posts and 403,054 comments, we use large language model-based sentiment classification and BERT-based topic modelling to explore how both groups engage with the TikTok refugee phenomenon. We analyse what themes foreign users express, how Chinese users respond, how stances (Pro-China, Neutral, Pro-Foreign) shape emotional expression, and how affective responses differ across topics and identities. Results show strong affective asymmetry: Chinese users respond with varying emotional intensities across topics and stances: pride and praise dominate cultural threads, while political discussions elicit high levels of contempt and anger, especially from Pro-China commenters. Pro-Foreign users exhibit the strongest negative emotions across all topics, whereas neutral users express curiosity and joy but still reinforce mainstream discursive norms. Cross-topic comparisons reveal that appearance-related content produces the most emotionally balanced interactions, while politics generates the highest polarization. Our findings reveal distinct emotion-stance structures in Sino-foreign online interactions and offer empirical insights into identity negotiation in transnational digital publics.
title Rejection or Inclusion in the Emotion-Identity Dynamics of TikTok Refugees on RedNote
topic Social and Information Networks
Computers and Society
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14623