Opinion Leaders in Internet Public Opinion: A Case Study on the Controversy of U.S. Pork Containing Ractopamine

The Taiwan government’s decision to approve the import of U.S. pork containing ractopamine was instigated and followed by pressure from relevant interest groups; people’s subsequent demands and reactions to this decision should also be carefully considered. This matter is no longer simply a food safety issue but a national political and economic issue. In this study, Sol-Idea was employed to collect relevant Internet public opinions, which were scrutinized by using nonreactive methods. Data collection commenced on August 28, 2020, the day when the government announced the lifting of the ban on US pork containing ractopamine, and ended on December 31, 2020, the day before the policy took effect. By examining the communication of online opinion leaders their positions and behaviors on the matter of importing US pork containing ractopamine were analyzed, in order to depict their active time periods online, and the sites they favored, and other behavioral patterns on the Internet.