Gualda, Estrella2025-02-112025-02-112024-06-30Gualda, E. (2024). The “Plandemic” Emojis, Conspiracy Theories and Online Hate Micro-narratives on Twitter . Culture E Studi Del Sociale, 9(1), 57–81. Retrieved from https://www.cussoc.it/journal/article/view/3492531-3975https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25035Although social science research on COVID-19 is diverse, few studies have focused specifically on emojis. Similarly, research that has paid attention to emojis from a social network analysis perspective is almost non-existent. The study is based on mixed methods and a computational approach. 5,509,549 tweets were collected from the NON-CONSPIRA-HATE Project. A subsample of 221,044 original tweets containing the strings ‘plandemia’ or ‘#plandemia’ was extracted from these. Of these, 46,318 tweets (21%) contained emojis. From here, emojis were analyzed to understand their connection with conspiracy theories and online hate micro-narratives. The analysis of the co-occurrence network of hate emojis and communities within the global network suggests that emojis are crucial for understanding the micro-narratives about the ‘plandemia’. The findings reveal the interconnections between various hate micro-narratives of emojis and conspiracy theories. Several communities of emojis were identified, generating micro-narratives about ‘The circus of the plandemic’, ‘the vaccine as a threat’, the “global anti-plandemic resistance”, and the “global anti-green-pass demonstrations”, all infused with rhetorical and sociolinguistic elements. The continuous use of rhetorical and sociolinguistic resources, such as repeating emojis within the same tweet, serves to convey conspiratorial messages about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines (denialist, anti-vaccine, anti-quarantine).Although social science research on COVID-19 is diverse, few studies have focused specifically on emojis. Similarly, research that has paid attention to emojis from a social network analysis perspective is almost non-existent. The study is based on mixed methods and a computational approach. 5,509,549 tweets were collected from the NON-CONSPIRA-HATE Project. A subsample of 221,044 original tweets containing the strings ‘plandemia’ or ‘#plandemia’ was extracted from these. Of these, 46,318 tweets (21%) contained emojis. From here, emojis were analyzed to understand their connection with conspiracy theories and online hate micro-narratives. The analysis of the co-occurrence network of hate emojis and communities within the global network suggests that emojis are crucial for understanding the micro-narratives about the ‘plandemia’. The findings reveal the interconnections between various hate micro-narratives of emojis and conspiracy theories. Several communities of emojis were identified, generating micro-narratives about ‘The circus of the plandemic’, ‘the vaccine as a threat’, the “global anti-plandemic resistance”, and the “global anti-green-pass demonstrations”, all infused with rhetorical and sociolinguistic elements. The continuous use of rhetorical and sociolinguistic resources, such as repeating emojis within the same tweet, serves to convey conspiratorial messages about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines (denialist, anti-vaccine, anti-quarantine).Aunque la investigación en ciencias sociales sobre la COVID-19 es diversa, pocos estudios se han centrado específicamente en los emojis. Del mismo modo, la investigación que ha prestado atención a los emojis desde una perspectiva de análisis de redes sociales es casi inexistente. Este estudio se basa en métodos mixtos y un enfoque computacional. Se recopilaron 5.509.549 tweets del proyecto NON-CONSPIRA-HATE. De ellos se extrajo una submuestra de 221.044 tweets originales que contenían las cadenas «plandemia» o «#plandemia». De ellos, 46.318 tweets (21%) contenían emojis. A partir de aquí, se analizaron los emojis para comprender su conexión con las teorías de la conspiración y las micronarrativas de odio en línea. El análisis de la red de co-ocurrencia de emojis de odio y comunidades dentro de la red global sugiere que los emojis son cruciales para entender las micro-narrativas sobre la «plandemia». Los resultados revelan las interconexiones entre diversas micronarrativas de odio de emojis y las teorías conspirativas. Se identificaron varias comunidades de emojis que generaban micronarrativas sobre «el circo de la plandemia», «la vacuna como amenaza», la «resistencia mundial contra la plandemia» y las «manifestaciones mundiales contra el pase verde», todas ellas impregnadas de elementos retóricos y sociolingüísticos. El uso continuo de recursos retóricos y sociolingüísticos, como la repetición de emojis dentro del mismo tuit, sirvió para transmitir mensajes conspirativos sobre la pandemia COVID-19 y las vacunas (negacionistas, antivacunas, anticuarentena).engAtribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 Españahttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/EmojisTwitterHate SpeechDiscursos de odioMicronarrativasMicronarrativesConspiracy TheoriesTeorías de la conspiraciónDesinformaciónDisinformationSemantic NetworksRedes semánticasCo-ocurrences networksCo-emojis networksRedes de emojisRedes de co-ocurrencia de emojisSociología ComputacionalComputational Sociologyjournal articleopen access63 Sociología