Emoticon-Based Ambivalent Expression: A Hidden Indicator for Unusual Behaviors in Weibo

Recent decades have witnessed online social media being a big-data window for testifying conventional social theories quantitatively and exploring much detailed human behavioral patterns. In this paper, by tracing the emoticon use in Weibo, a group of hidden “ambivalent users” are disclosed for frequently posting ambivalent tweets containing both positive and negative emotions. Further investigation reveals that this ambivalent expression could be a novel indicator of many unusual social behaviors. For instance, ambivalent users with the female as the majority like to make a sound in midnights and at weekends. They mention their close friends frequently in ambivalent tweets, which attract more replies and serve as a more private communication way. Ambivalent users also respond differently to public affairs from others and demonstrate more interests in entertainment and sports events. Moreover, the sentiment shift in ambivalent tweets is more evident than usual and exhibits a clear “negative to positive” pattern. The above observations, though being promiscuous seemingly, actually point to the self-regulation of negative mood in Weibo, which could find its basis from the traditional emotion management theories in sociology but makes an important extension to the online environment in this study. Finally, as an interesting corollary, ambivalent users are found connected with compulsive buyers and turn out to be perfect targets for online marketing.

近数十年来，在线社交媒体已成为定量验证传统社会理论、精细化探究人类行为模式的大数据研究窗口。本研究通过追踪微博(Weibo)中的表情符号使用行为，揭示了一类隐匿的“矛盾情绪用户”：他们频繁发布兼具正向与负向情绪的矛盾推文。进一步分析表明，这类矛盾情绪表达可作为诸多异常社会行为的全新表征指标。例如，以女性为主体的矛盾情绪用户偏好于在午夜与周末时段发布内容；他们会在矛盾情绪推文中频繁提及亲密好友，此类推文能够获得更多回复，同时充当更具私密性的沟通渠道。矛盾情绪用户对公共事件的回应模式与其他用户存在显著差异，且对娱乐与体育赛事表现出更高的关注度。此外，矛盾情绪推文中的情绪波动相较于普通推文更为显著，且呈现出明确的“由负转正”趋势。上述观测结果看似零散杂乱，实则指向微博平台中用户对负面情绪的自我调节行为；该结论可依托社会学领域传统情绪管理理论获得支撑，同时本研究也将其拓展至在线社交场景中。最后，作为一项有趣的推论，本研究发现矛盾情绪用户与强迫性购物群体存在关联，且可成为在线营销的精准目标受众。