Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research

Center for Asian Public Opinion Research & Collaboration Initiative (충남대학교 아시아여론조사학회)
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Users' Reactions to Rape News Shared on Social Media: An Analysis of Five Facebook Reaction Buttons

  • Al-Zaman, Md. Sayeed (University of Alberta, Jahangirnagar University) ;
  • Ahona, Tasnuva Alam (Jahangirnagar University)
  • Received : 2021.10.03
  • Accepted : 2022.02.22
  • Published : 2022.02.28
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Abstract

This study investigated 3.50 million Facebook reactions collected from 9,429 Bangladeshi news items about rape shared on social media from 2016 to 2021. The primary aim of this study was to understand users' different reaction patterns based on the five major Facebook reactions (i.e., love, haha, wow, sad, and angry). Based on the theories of emotion, we quantitatively answer one research question: How do social media users react to rape with the five major Facebook reactions? The results suggest that users are more likely to express disdain toward rape and sympathy toward the victims using Facebook reactions by using the angry button, along with the sad button. In rape news, both reactions are consistent and maintain a strong positive correlation, meaning they increase and decrease together. Although many users tend to mock and laugh at rape incidents and the victims, trend lines suggest that such expressions may not be consistent with time. Despite contextual relevance, we presume that in socially and morally unacceptable events like rape and war, the valences of reactions alter to some extent: angry and sad usually become positive, while love, wow, and haha become negative. Some strengths and limitations of the study are discussed as well.

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References

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