Public discourse in the aftermath of the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, NY: Insights from social media data and ChatGPT

IF 6.6 1区经济学 Q1 URBAN STUDIES

Cities Pub Date : 2025-09-05 DOI:10.1016/j.cities.2025.106440

Li Yin , Jiao Dai , Robert Mark Silverman , Liang Wu , Henry Louis Taylor. Jr.

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Recent studies highlight the importance of transformative changes in planning and policymaking to enhance collaboration and effectiveness using new data sources and advanced tools. This study examines the potential of the NLP application in urban planning and the limitations of social media data in capturing local community concerns. Mass shootings have surged dramatically in the U.S., becoming alarmingly common, a troubling trend that is also evident globally. We investigated the dominant semantic topics and sentiments on Twitter about Buffalo's racially segregated East Side neighborhoods since the 2022 mass shooting, using natural language processing (NLP) and ChatGPT. The findings reveal a shift in discussions toward the shooter and broader issues of racism, rather than structural inequalities and local conditions in the Black community. Tweets primarily expressed sadness and anger, but also advocacy. Effective policy-making, such as post-massacre gun control, may have influenced social media discussions. At the same time, the government's failure to address structural racism and deliver promised improvements may create a disconnection between community needs and their online representations.

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2022年纽约州布法罗大规模枪击事件后的公众话语：来自社交媒体数据和ChatGPT的见解

最近的研究强调了在规划和决策方面进行变革性变革的重要性，以利用新的数据来源和先进工具加强协作和效率。本研究探讨了NLP在城市规划中的应用潜力，以及社交媒体数据在捕捉当地社区关注问题方面的局限性。大规模枪击事件在美国急剧增加，变得令人担忧地普遍，这一令人不安的趋势在全球也很明显。我们使用自然语言处理（NLP）和ChatGPT调查了自2022年大规模枪击事件以来，Twitter上关于布法罗种族隔离的东区社区的主要语义话题和情绪。调查结果显示，讨论转向了枪手和更广泛的种族主义问题，而不是结构性不平等和黑人社区的地方条件。推文主要表达了悲伤和愤怒，但也表达了支持。有效的政策制定，如大屠杀后的枪支管制，可能影响了社交媒体的讨论。与此同时，政府未能解决结构性种族主义问题并兑现承诺的改善措施，可能会导致社区需求与他们在网上的表现脱节。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cities URBAN STUDIES-

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

9.00%

发文量

517

期刊介绍： Cities offers a comprehensive range of articles on all aspects of urban policy. It provides an international and interdisciplinary platform for the exchange of ideas and information between urban planners and policy makers from national and local government, non-government organizations, academia and consultancy. The primary aims of the journal are to analyse and assess past and present urban development and management as a reflection of effective, ineffective and non-existent planning policies; and the promotion of the implementation of appropriate urban policies in both the developed and the developing world.