Title: A study of internet public opinion leaders with COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan as a case

Authors: Sheng-Tsung Tu; Louis Y.Y. Lu; Chih-Hung Hsieh; Chia-Yu Wu

Addresses: Department of Radio and Television, Ming Chuan University, Taiwan ' College of Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan ' College of Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan ' College of Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

Abstract: The novel coronavirus pandemic ravaged the world in 2020, making the world fall into an unprecedented period of stagnation. This research used the Sol-Idea internet public opinion analysis platform to collect, and analyses online public opinion data associated with novel coronavirus. This research finds the following situations: 1) COVID-19 online opinion leaders are more likely to post in major discussion boards. However, opinion leaders of replies but use PTT forum as the main discussion channel; 2) According to the analysis of the content and behaviour of the account 'ebola01', it is found that the content of the posts are mostly news praising the ruling party government or mocking the opposing parties, with the sources mostly coming from media considered to be more pro-ruling party. Therefore, it can be inferred that 'ebola01' may be part of cyber army with a particular political spectrum.

Keywords: COVID-19; internet public opinion; opinion leader; Sol-Idea; Taiwan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSHC.2024.136758

International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing, 2024 Vol.4 No.2, pp.111 - 130

Received: 22 Apr 2021
Accepted: 03 Jul 2021
Published online: 19 Feb 2024 *

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