Computational Social Sciences Workshop: Videos Engaging in Conspiracy Theories: Promoting or Refuting Foreign-Pseudohistory on the Video-Sharing Website (Bilibili)”

Speaker: Prof. Siyuan MA, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau

Date: 19/2/2025 (Wed)

Time: 13:30 – 15:00

Venue: E21A-G035

Language: English

Register: https://isw.um.edu.mo/evmapp/register/css_siyuanma

Abstract:

The current paper is an exploratory study about foreign pseudohistory, which is a special kind of conspiracy theory that has important influence across developing countries, such as China. The current study analyzed 302 videos about foreign pseudohistory from a popular Chinese video-sharing website (Bilibili) and found 213 videos supporting foreign pseudohistory and 89 videos opposing foreign pseudohistory. Videos opposing foreign pseudohistory attract more viewers and comments than videos supporting foreign pseudohistory, but the latter videos attract fans with high stickiness. The inductive thematic analysis identified three major themes from these videos, including 1) how foreign civilizations and history were based on fabrication and plagiarism; 2) promoting foreign pseudohistory as a way to fight against Western-centrism; and 3) refuting and mocking foreign pseudohistory and enlightening the public about the real history. The further implications of this study, such as how to use the commenter-interaction data for echo chamber studies, will also be discussed.”

For participants who have registered and attended the workshop, Smart Point / CS will be given as “Knowledge Integration”.

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