Maracchione, F. orcid.org/0000-0002-6628-2114, Sciorati, G. orcid.org/0000-0003-1311-8326 and Combei, C.R. orcid.org/0000-0003-1884-8205 (2024) Changing images? Italian Twitter discourse on China and the United States during the First Wave of COVID-19. The International Spectator, 59 (2). pp. 77-94. ISSN 0393-2729
Abstract
Although public diplomacy and its influence on foreign public opinion have been central themes in recent research, the latter often lacks methodological diversity and does not consider how states create competing images. Our study offers a framework for understanding Italian public opinion using a triangulation approach that combines traditional public opinion surveys with advanced text analysis of social media content. We compare the representation of China and the United States in the Italian Twitter community during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis shows that Italians who perceived China as a viable alternative to Western governments in public opinion surveys did so because they distrusted Western leaders and institutions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | COVID-19; China; United States; public opinion; topic models |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Economic and Social Research Council 2272007 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2024 12:40 |
Last Modified: | 06 Nov 2024 15:01 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Informa UK Limited |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/03932729.2023.2299452 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:207718 |