Negotiating Transnational Identity and Cyber-Nationalism: Chinese International Students’ Identity Struggles on Social Media during the COVID-19

This paper investigates how Chinese international students negotiate their cultural identity and engage in cyber-nationalism on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study addresses the dual challenge of facing racial discrimination abroad while being perceived as potential virus carriers within China. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, including sentiment analysis of Weibo posts and qualitative case studies, the research explores how social media acts as a platform for students to navigate their identities in a transnational context. Digital spaces not only allow for the expression of cultural belonging and national pride but also amplify the tensions between maintaining loyalty to one’s homeland and the pressures of integration into a foreign society. Cyber-nationalism emerges as a significant factor in shaping online discourse, with students participating in nationalist conversations while contending with external prejudices. This study highlights the complexity of digital nationalism in shaping identity, illustrating how social media facilitates both solidarity and conflict in the negotiation of cultural belonging during a global crisis.