Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

The Temporal Changes in Public Attitudes Towards Hate Against Asians in YouTube Comments: Three Waves of Research Against the Backdrop of the 2025 US Presidential Election

Chenxuan ZhangGuangdong Guangya High School* Zhexuan YangShanghai Jianping High School Chujun YinWeston Massachusetts High School

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This study focuses on the emotional and content evolution of YouTube comments before and after the 2024 US presidential election and the 2025 inauguration ceremony. We collected a large amount of comment data from the relevant videos of the above three stages, conducted sentiment analysis using the VADER dictionary method, and combined topic modeling and manual encoding to extract the main discussion topics. At the same time, we evaluated the frequency of hate speech in the comments. The results show that the emotional tendencies of social media comments during the election stage have undergone significant changes: negative emotions in post-election comments have risen significantly, while emotions have slightly declined after the inauguration ceremony. The topics of the comments have shifted from pre-election campaign issues and candidate evaluations to post-election reactions to the election results and discussions on the election process, and then to the content of the inaugural speech and the policy direction of the new government. Hate speech peaked in the post-election stage. Overall, the research found that major political events significantly affect the online public opinion ecosystem: the announcement of election results is accompanied by a short-term surge in emotional polarization and hate speech, while after the inauguration speech, the focus of discussions shifts to the new governance direction, and emotional confrontation eases but still persists.

Keywords: Social Media Analysis; YouTube; Anti-Asian Hate
Published: November 5, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.HT29110
Volume: CHR Vol.93
pp. 217-231
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