April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Exploring Emotional Contagion and Reciprocity on Social Media: An Analysis of Autobiographic Videos About Depression and Comments
Background: In the digital age, the dynamic interaction between social media influencers and their followers/viewers represents a new type of interpersonal relationship. Understanding the structure of these relationships is of paramount importance, as influencers wield substantial sway over followers’ emotions, opinions, and behaviors. Similar to offline relationships, online influencer/follower relationships develop through self-disclosure and social support. Emotional contagion and social support are central to the development of such relationships. Guided by emotional contagion, social exchange, and social support theories, this study examined how the Douyin autobiographic video’s emotion influenced the emotions, social support, and self-disclosure displayed in viewers’ responses.
Method: The present study’s unit of analysis consists of videos generated by Douyin content creators living with depression, wherein they narrate their personal experiences of the condition from a first-person perspective. We collected 20065 videos under 20 hashtags related to depression (e.g., #depression, #major depression, #anti-depression) in October-November 2021. 475 videos from 57 creators remained after the screening. We downloaded the comments through the 475 videos’ link in January 2023. We found that some videos were removed by the creators themselves or the platform, and some videos had no comments. Finally, we retrieved 4,649 comments for 290 videos from 34 creators. We coded creator demographic variables, video characteristic variables (social support provision and emotional tone), and comment characteristics (social support provision. negative self-disclosure, positive self-disclosure, and emotional tone).
Results: We conducted a series of binary logistic regression tests to answer the emotional contagion and social support exchange between video features and comment features. We found that positive emotions in videos positively predicted positive emotions in the public (Exp (β) = 2.409, p < .001) and positive self-disclosure of people suffering from depression in comments (Exp (β) = 1.807, p < .01). Negative emotions in the videos predicted negative emotions in the public (Exp (β) = 1.357, p < .001) and negative self-disclosure of people suffering from depression in comments (Exp (β) = 1.179, p < .05). In addition, positive emotions were more likely to be contagious in Douyin videos and comments than negative emotions (Z = 4.146, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the videos and comments conveyed informational and emotional support as a form of social exchange.
Discussion: This study explored how the emotion and the social support provided in the video influenced the emotion, self-disclosure, and the provision of social support in the comments. In essence, we investigated the mechanisms of emotional contagion, social support exchange, and reciprocity among these autobiographic videos on Douyin. By bridging the concepts of emotional contagion and social exchange theory within social media interactions, this study offers an innovative theoretical perspective for studying emotional interactions and reciprocity between social media influencers and commenters. This deepens our understanding of the dynamics between influencers and viewers in a culturally specific context, enriching the existing literature on the online environment and emotional contagion and reciprocity of information.
Method: The present study’s unit of analysis consists of videos generated by Douyin content creators living with depression, wherein they narrate their personal experiences of the condition from a first-person perspective. We collected 20065 videos under 20 hashtags related to depression (e.g., #depression, #major depression, #anti-depression) in October-November 2021. 475 videos from 57 creators remained after the screening. We downloaded the comments through the 475 videos’ link in January 2023. We found that some videos were removed by the creators themselves or the platform, and some videos had no comments. Finally, we retrieved 4,649 comments for 290 videos from 34 creators. We coded creator demographic variables, video characteristic variables (social support provision and emotional tone), and comment characteristics (social support provision. negative self-disclosure, positive self-disclosure, and emotional tone).
Results: We conducted a series of binary logistic regression tests to answer the emotional contagion and social support exchange between video features and comment features. We found that positive emotions in videos positively predicted positive emotions in the public (Exp (β) = 2.409, p < .001) and positive self-disclosure of people suffering from depression in comments (Exp (β) = 1.807, p < .01). Negative emotions in the videos predicted negative emotions in the public (Exp (β) = 1.357, p < .001) and negative self-disclosure of people suffering from depression in comments (Exp (β) = 1.179, p < .05). In addition, positive emotions were more likely to be contagious in Douyin videos and comments than negative emotions (Z = 4.146, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the videos and comments conveyed informational and emotional support as a form of social exchange.
Discussion: This study explored how the emotion and the social support provided in the video influenced the emotion, self-disclosure, and the provision of social support in the comments. In essence, we investigated the mechanisms of emotional contagion, social support exchange, and reciprocity among these autobiographic videos on Douyin. By bridging the concepts of emotional contagion and social exchange theory within social media interactions, this study offers an innovative theoretical perspective for studying emotional interactions and reciprocity between social media influencers and commenters. This deepens our understanding of the dynamics between influencers and viewers in a culturally specific context, enriching the existing literature on the online environment and emotional contagion and reciprocity of information.