My presentation discusses a content analysis of select YouTube comment postings involving the 2012 mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora Theater shootings as well as the occurrence of Hurricane Sandy. Psychologists and social scientists have recently begun examinations of how individuals respond to and express grief through various Internet Websites. Despite its general popularity, an underappreciated aspect of YouTube is its potential to prime individuals about the given content of a particular video—such as images related to the aforementioned national tragedies—and allowing users to post comments below a given video. Approximately 500-600 comments from four different YouTube videos (e.g., breaking news clips or memorials) related to these tragedies were randomly selected for coding (as each video had between 3,700 and 22,000 comments). For each case, the following information was coded in quantitative form: (1.) gender of the poster; (2.) emotion suggestive of: (a.) grief, (b.) hostility/sarcasm, and (c.) compassion/empathy; (3.) the emotional quality most salient (e.g., positive, negative, mixed); and (4.) social themes (e.g., discussion of religion, politicians, America). Consistent with study hypotheses, preliminary analyses suggest that the YouTube comments associated with the Sandy Hook shootings (particularly a memorial video) are especially likely to discuss warmth, grief, and feature lessened hostility. This study, through an innovative and methodical content analysis of select YouTube comments, advances our understanding of the differing contexts by which individuals may show grief or other related emotions online following significant calamities due to man-made (e.g., shootings) or natural (e.g., hurricanes) causes. Many scholars have highlighted the growing need to study how “real world” online behavior occurs, including how individuals respond to significant life events. This study also highlights how, even in an online environment, situational contexts greatly guide our behavior.
About the presenterEric D. Miller
Dr. Eric D. Miller is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Kent State University (East Liverpool Campus). Dr. Miller is a highly accomplished scholar in the field of psychology who has, to date, authored or edited three books, published well over 25 additional other academic papers (e.g., journal articles and book chapters), over a dozen different pedagogical materials, and has made over 40 professional presentations. I have previously presented at MAPACA three times and have also chaired a session. My professional Webpage is maintained at http://eric.miller.socialpsychology....