This master's thesis analyses, at multiple levels, the comments through which Slovenian and French users of the social media platform Facebook reacted to the (temporary) measures that were put into place to prevent and control infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two main objectives of this analysis are (1) to identifying the linguistic structures through which the aforementioned Facebook users responded to the COVID-19 prevention and control measures and (2) to compare the reactions to these measures on a linguistic level to determine how they evolved between the first and second lockdowns. The theoretical part touches on topic such as computer-mediated communication, discourse analysis, opinion mining, and the linguistic characteristics of French and Slovenian, in order to develop the theoretical framework necessary for a proper understanding of the linguistic analysis, which revealed that the reactions of French and Slovenian users differ in certain respects but are similar in others. The analysis of opinions notably revealed that Facebook users in both countries reacted mostly negatively to the lockdown measures. Regarding the use of paralinguistic signs (emoticons, GIFs), linguistic analysis showed an increase in their use during the second lockdown. The results of the syntactic analysis showed that declarative sentences were the most commonly used type of sentence in both linguistic groups. Differences also appeared at the syntactic level: Slovenian users mainly expressed their support and neutrality through complex sentences, while French users did so primarily through simple sentences. For comments of disagreement, the situation was reversed. Finally, the pragmatic analysis showed that at the beginning of the pandemic, comments expressing support in both countries welcomed the introduction of strict measures, but they became rarer and more critical during the second lockdown. Neutral comments sought additional information during the first lockdown but expressed more doubts and demanded greater transparency from the authorities during the second lockdown. Lastly, comments expressing disagreement revealed the greatest differences. In fact, in France, the criticisms shifted from opposing the measures to sarcasm and mockery, while in Slovenia, they turned into direct threats and violent insults, expressing growing anger and hostility. The results of this master's thesis enhance the understanding of the dynamics of online interactions during a crisis and highlight significant cultural differences and similarities in how the French and Slovenian populations reacted to lockdown measures on social media.
|
