Investigating the Coverage of China’s Vaccine Crisis on YouTube: Networked Framing, Grassroots Activism, and Homophily

This study investigates how China’s domestic vaccine crisis in 2018 was politicized within Chinese video content on YouTube. The analysis, employing the Structural Topic Model, uncovered a notable hyper-politicization of the vaccine crisis in video comments, often diverging from the issue frames presented in video titles. Furthermore, inferential network analysis using the Exponential Random Graph Model revealed the hyper-politicized comments can be attributed to 1) the emergence of networked commenters engaging in cross-video commenting practices, and 2) political homophily among video producers, particularly regarding their critical political stance toward China. The findings suggest the networked dynamics of ssue politicization.