Content Analysis of Iranian Users' Emotional Expression on Social Media; The Café Instagram versus Twitter Square


Shayan Morshedi, Memorial University

In this study, I argue the agentic role of cyberspace by studying how different social media platforms (SMP) affect Iranian users’ reactions to specific events. People express and share their emotions and thoughts with others through social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Nevertheless, is it accurate to consider these platforms as a glass into which we pour our emotions and reactions? Or can SMP influence our thoughts and emotions? As the use of social media is increasing, researchers have begun exploring the relationship between emotional expression and social media use. The rise of social media has revolutionized the way people express and share their emotions. SMPs such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok provide a social space where users can express their emotions and react to the events. These platforms offer a range of features, such as emojis, likes, comments, and shares, that alternate the way that people interact with each other or express their emotional responses to the events. Scholars discussed that our thoughts are engaged within the context and situation. Considering cyberspace as an agentic actor with noticeable and independent effects on social life, using different SMPs may provoke different reactions and emotional expressions. However, the impact of different SMPs on users’ emotions and reactions remains relatively understudied. In this study, I argue that cyberspace is agentic by studying how different SMPs affect users’ reactions to specific events. To do this, I have conducted a qualitative content analysis of Iranian users on Twitter and Instagram, comparing their reactions to five specific events. The five target events were selected based on complex emotions theory and the political atmosphere of Iran. Hence, the Sanchi collision, the Plasco disaster, the FIFA World Cup 2018 (narrowed to reactions about Iran’s team), the PS752 flight, and the Iranian MeToo movement are the specific target events of this study. The inclusion criteria were public posts/tweets in Farsi (Persian) language, and posted during specific relevant time frames. I collected the first 1000 posts/tweets on Instagram and Twitter using a hashtag-based approach. This study did not exclude bots, rather it included bots and other nonhuman actors in the analysis. This approach’s rationale is that nonhumans play an essential role in social media, as they are often involved in the algorithms and infrastructures that enable social media platforms to function. In the early stages of analysis, two major themes emerged from the data. The SMP users on Twitter acted as “aggressive complainers,” while users on Instagram were the “nice mourners.” In the lens of emotions, Twitter was triggering more hot emotions, while Instagram was the space for expressing cold emotions. Twitter content was more active, collective, and target-based, while Instagram posts were more passive and individualistic. Thus, I conclude with a metaphorical theme: We can understand Instagram as a café and Twitter as a square/street. Also, returning to the metaphor about pouring content into a glass, I argue that the “glass” has agency and shapes how that content looks and is interpreted. This study demonstrates that users behaviour on different SMPs varies while bridging cyberpsychology to the sociology of social media.

This paper will be presented at the following session: