Rejection or Inclusion in the Emotion-Identity Dynamics of TikTok Refugees on RedNote

TL;DR

This paper analyzes cross-cultural interactions on RedNote between Chinese users and TikTok refugees, revealing emotional asymmetries, topic-based polarization, and identity negotiation dynamics in transnational digital publics.

Contribution

It introduces a large-scale analysis of Sino-foreign online interactions using sentiment and topic modeling, highlighting emotional and stance-based differences in a novel social media context.

Findings

Chinese users show emotional pride and anger in cultural and political topics.

Pro-Foreign users exhibit strong negative emotions across topics.

Politics elicits high polarization and contempt among users.

Abstract

This study examines cross-cultural interactions between Chinese users and self-identified "TikTok Refugees"(foreign users who migrated to RedNote after TikTok's U.S. ban). Based on a dataset of 1,862 posts and 403,054 comments, we use large language model-based sentiment classification and BERT-based topic modelling to explore how both groups engage with the TikTok refugee phenomenon. We analyse what themes foreign users express, how Chinese users respond, how stances (Pro-China, Neutral, Pro-Foreign) shape emotional expression, and how affective responses differ across topics and identities. Results show strong affective asymmetry: Chinese users respond with varying emotional intensities across topics and stances: pride and praise dominate cultural threads, while political discussions elicit high levels of contempt and anger, especially from Pro-China commenters. Pro-Foreign users exhibit the strongest negative emotions across all topics, whereas neutral users express curiosity and joy but still reinforce mainstream discursive norms. Cross-topic comparisons reveal that appearance-related content produces the most emotionally balanced interactions, while politics generates the highest polarization. Our findings reveal distinct emotion-stance structures in Sino-foreign online interactions and offer empirical insights into identity negotiation in transnational digital publics.