Selected Papers of #AoIR2022:  

The 23rd Annual Conference of the  
Association of Internet Researchers 

Dublin, Ireland / 2-5 Nov 2022 
 

Suggested Citation (APA): Green, A., Shibuya, Y., Trillo, T., Mizoroki, S., Scharlach, R., Hallinan, B., 
Park, T.,Shim, A., Levi, E., Segev, E. Shenhay, S., & Shifman, L.. (2022, November). How To Do Things 
with “Values”: A Cross-Linguistic Analysis of the Meanings and Functions of a Core Concept on Twitter. 
Paper presented at AoIR 2022: The 23rd Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers. 
Dublin, Ireland: AoIR. Retrieved from http://spir.aoir.org. 
 

 

HOW TO DO THINGS WITH “VALUES”: A CROSS-LINGUISTIC 
ANALYSIS OF THE MEANINGS AND FUNCTIONS OF A CORE 
CONCEPT ON TWITTER   
 

Avishai Green 

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Yuya Shibuya 
The University of Tokyo 
 
Tommaso Trillò 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Saki Mizoroki 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Rebecca Scharlach 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Blake Hallinan 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Tim Park 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Anna Shim 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Effi Levi 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
 
Elad Segev 
Tel Aviv University 
 
Shaul Shenhav 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 



 
Limor Shifman 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 

 

The term values is prominent in political discourse. Yet its ubiquity is matched by its 
vagueness, especially when considering usage among different cultures. Twitter 
provides a promising venue for exploring the contested political discourse surrounding 
this term. 

In this paper, we study the use of the term values on Twitter across different language 
communities. We ask: what meanings do users ascribe to the term “values”? and what 
are the social and political discursive functions of the term? For both questions, we will 
explore cross-cultural similarities and differences.  

We compiled a corpus of around 15 million tweets containing the term values from 
2019-2021 in English, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean. We use two 
computational tools to analyze the data: 1) Co-occurrence network analysis at the tweet 
level, 2) Phrase-detection – using the Pointwise Mutual Information measure (PMI) – of 
word combinations containing values. Both quantitative tools are complemented by 
qualitative analysis of full tweets containing key terms and phrases.  

Preliminary results suggest fundamental differences in how different cultures perceive 
and frame values: while the term in English, Italian, and German appears mainly in a 
partisan political context, Japanese and Korean usage is far more interpersonal and 
apolitical. In the English, Italian, and German corpuses, the term is often invoked in 
politically motivated rhetorical attacks, often alleging hypocrisy. In the Japanese and 
Korean corpuses, tweeters use the term to promote a societal norm of respecting 
others’ values and to discuss generational gaps.  

Our analysis demonstrates the potential of Twitter-based research for unpacking the 
meanings and functions of this core concept, across cultures.