Sentiment Dynamics and Shifts across Instances on Mastodon

Seeun Kim; Li Zeng; Sijia Ma; Giulia Sturlese

doi:10.36190/2025.45

Sentiment Dynamics and Shifts across Instances on Mastodon

Seeun Kim
, Li Zeng^*
, Sijia Ma
, Giulia Sturlese

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

This study investigates how sentiment shifts unfold on Mastodon, a decentralized social network, during the 2023 Gaza conflict. We examine how the federated structure shapes the spread and transformation of sentiment in crisis-related discourse. We find that posts with broader reach tend to show more volatile sentiment, major conflict events coincide with sharp sentiment changes, and reply interactions often diverge in sentiment from the original post. These findings highlight how decentralized infrastructures mediate sentiment dynamics in online communications.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Workshop Proceedings of the 19th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.36190/2025.45
Publication status	Published - 5 Jun 2025

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10.36190/2025.45

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title = "Sentiment Dynamics and Shifts across Instances on Mastodon",

abstract = "This study investigates how sentiment shifts unfold on Mastodon, a decentralized social network, during the 2023 Gaza conflict. We examine how the federated structure shapes the spread and transformation of sentiment in crisis-related discourse. We find that posts with broader reach tend to show more volatile sentiment, major conflict events coincide with sharp sentiment changes, and reply interactions often diverge in sentiment from the original post. These findings highlight how decentralized infrastructures mediate sentiment dynamics in online communications.",

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N2 - This study investigates how sentiment shifts unfold on Mastodon, a decentralized social network, during the 2023 Gaza conflict. We examine how the federated structure shapes the spread and transformation of sentiment in crisis-related discourse. We find that posts with broader reach tend to show more volatile sentiment, major conflict events coincide with sharp sentiment changes, and reply interactions often diverge in sentiment from the original post. These findings highlight how decentralized infrastructures mediate sentiment dynamics in online communications.

AB - This study investigates how sentiment shifts unfold on Mastodon, a decentralized social network, during the 2023 Gaza conflict. We examine how the federated structure shapes the spread and transformation of sentiment in crisis-related discourse. We find that posts with broader reach tend to show more volatile sentiment, major conflict events coincide with sharp sentiment changes, and reply interactions often diverge in sentiment from the original post. These findings highlight how decentralized infrastructures mediate sentiment dynamics in online communications.

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DO - 10.36190/2025.45

M3 - Conference contribution

BT - Workshop Proceedings of the 19th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media

ER -

Sentiment Dynamics and Shifts across Instances on Mastodon

Abstract

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