YouTube discourse of the Oting massacre in Nagaland: investigating affiliations, sentiments and Naga identity negotiation in YouTube comments

Abstract

Personae identification and understanding the social bonds shared in online interactions are found to be key to combating misinformation and conspiratorial discourse as well as aiding in developing solutions for specific communities. The 2021 Oting massacre in Nagaland that killed 14 civilians sparked public outrage and widespread protests calling for justice and the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in northeast India. The massacre received a lot of attention, including YouTube videos, and reignited discussion on militarization, Naga identity and a backlash over the botched operation. A close qualitative analysis of 500 randomly extracted comments from 10 selected YouTube videos identified 15 personae with unique linguistic patterns that reveal specific ideational targets and their affiliation strategies in the discourse. A sentiment analysis of 11,294 comments shows a higher negative score linked to condemnation, hate speech and conspiracy than a positive score linked to solidarity and empathy. ‘Nagaism’ as being a Naga is reimagined and reinforced via YouTube, countering misconceptions about Naga identity.