Evolving Emotions: Tracing Social Media Narratives in the Wake of the Manchester Arena Bombing

Castellanos Diaz, L.A., Edjossan-Sossou, A., & Komendantova, N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2568-6179 (2024). Evolving Emotions: Tracing Social Media Narratives in the Wake of the Manchester Arena Bombing. SSRN Electronic Journal 10.2139/ssrn.5002259. (Submitted)

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Abstract

The behavior and sentiment of individuals in online environments have become increasingly reactive to disaster events. Monitoring and analyzing these behaviors and sentiments in the context of manmade disasters provide valuable insights for crisis management professionals. These analytical processes facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the evolving situation, support the development of effective response strategies, and contribute to maintaining societal stability. Employing appropriate methodologies and tools enables the capture and tracking of the semantic shifts in social media communications, offering a means to observe their evolution over time.In this study, we present research conducted on the Manchester Arena Bombing incident in the United Kingdom, which occurred on May 22, 2017, focusing on leveraging data from Twitter (now X). Using Orange, a text-mining analysis software, we explored key discussion topics and their dynamics from messages published immediately after the incident up to a week and a month later. The results demonstrate the evolution of emotional expressions in citizens’ messages during each disaster phase analyzed, including the prevalence of negative or positive sentiments during the recovery phase.

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