The role of emotions in user engagement on social media has become increasingly important for understanding political mobilization in digital spaces. The #SaveTheChildren (#STC) campaign, notably appropriated by QAnon to spread conspiracist messaging during the 2020 US presidential election and leading up to the January 6th Capitol riot, exemplifies how online movements can translate into significant offline political action. While platform-specific differences in how emotional content drives engagement are likely significant—given varying user bases, content moderation policies, and information dissemination mechanisms—we still lack a comprehensive understanding of these differences across social media environments.

This study provides a descriptive examination of: 1) how the timing of content production, engagement patterns, and emotional expressions for #STC-related content varied across different platforms, and 2) how the relationship between emotional expressions and user engagement differs across platforms, even when analyzing substantively similar content.

By analyzing matched datasets based on content similarity across Twitter, Facebook, Parler, and Gab, we identify distinct patterns in how similar content manifests on each platform and how it is received by users. Specifically, we observe both similarities and differences in the timing of content production (likely influenced by different content moderation policies), the nature of emotional expressions in posts, and user engagement patterns (how users interact with and respond to the content) across platforms. 

The significance of this study lies in demonstrating the need for a more nuanced understanding of how emotional expressions operate within specific platform contexts, rather than assuming universal patterns. Our findings offer insights for future cross-platform analyses of how emotional content drives engagement and mobilization across different social media environments.