Digital Mourning and Civic Engagement: Emotional Dynamics on China's Virtual Wailing Wall

Social media has transformed political dialogue and civic participation, even under censorship. In China, the “Virtual Wailing Wall” for Dr. Li Wenliang emerged as a site of grief and dissent, illustrating how online spaces can sustain public discourse during crises. This study analyses 213,435 Weibo posts from October 2022 to September 2023 to trace how engagement with the memorial evolved over time. Combining topic modelling, sentiment analysis, time series analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance tests, the research identifies a shift from epidemic-related discussions towards expressions of gratitude, mourning, and remembrance, underscoring the role of digital platforms in providing emotional support. Regional variations reveal that socioeconomic conditions shaped patterns of participation, with more developed regions showing higher engagement. The findings highlight social media's dual role as an arena for collective mourning and civic communication, emphasising its potential to foster community resilience and inform strategic approaches to public discourse during future crises.