Tracking Exclusive Sentiment of Citizenship through Google Trends: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan

• In Event: Social Media and the Public Sphere: An Agenda for Future Research

Abstract

While most previous view citizenship as an expansive and inclusive concept (e.g., mobilization and participation), we argue that there is also a restrictive and exclusive version of citizenship (e.g., immigration) in public discourse, online and offline. In the current study, we track the intensity of and changes in public sentiment on immigration in three comparative societies in Asia, based on Google Trends. Though not widely aware by communication scholars, Google Trends is a unique and influential platform of social media as it publishes the aggregated volume of user search query words over time, which has been used to describe and predict a wide range of social trends such as influenza, stock markets, and political leader popularity. We will show how the inclusive and exclusive views of citizenship coevolve and compete in the three societies through the prism of Google Trends.

Authors

• Jonathan J.H. Zhu, City U of Hong Kong

• Taiquan Peng, Nanyang Technological University

• Jie Qin, City U of Hong Kong

• Zhenzhen Wang, City University of Hong Kong

• Hexin Chen, City U of Hong Kong