Who Is Shaping the Narrative? Unveiling Stakeholder Engagement Behavior in Megaprojects on Social Media

Abstract

Social media has become a key platform for various megaproject stakeholders to express opinions and shape public discourse. Yet, how these stakeholders engage in digital spaces remains underexplored. To address this gap, this study proposes a systematic framework to examine stakeholder engagement behaviors on social media, focusing on engagement intensity, posting influence, and framing strategies. For illustration purposes, the framework is applied to the analysis of Weibo posts about the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge in China. Results show that stakeholder engagement patterns varied across project phases: News media exhibited the highest engagement during construction, the general public became more active during the opening stage, and government organizations led engagement in the operation phase. News media accounts also produced the majority of influential posts, highlighting their critical role in shaping public discourse. Across all phases, attribute framing, news framing, and situation framing emerged as the most common strategies, emphasizing the project’s technical and symbolic significance. These findings not only deepen our understanding of stakeholder dynamics but also provide practical guidance for managing online stakeholder engagement behaviors across different stages of large-scale megaprojects.

Keywords

megaproject stakeholder engagement social media mining public opinion

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