Table 2.

Categories related to emotion expression.

Category	Conceptual encoding	Original statement
Stereotyped experiences	Encounters with linguistic stereotypes	“There is indeed some discrimination based on their stereotypes. For example, you yourself might use certain words or expressions in a way that reflects this.”
	Presumptive identity labels	“They have such a very strong stereotype, and it will give you a presumption.”
	Negative Framing of occupational identity	“Most people from the Chinese Mainland may be relatively poor. And if you are from the Chinese Mainland, you cannot afford to buy clothes.”
Platform space exclusion	Patterns of discursive exclusion	“I was using Mandarin to post messages. When I first entered this field to look for a job, I would use Mandarin and try to find people who also came here from the Chinese Mainland and were looking for a job, so as to communicate with them. However, the usual result was that many local Hong Kong users would criticize me under the posts.”
	Mechanisms of identity categorization and differentiation	“On this platform, it feels like it’s not guided by exchanges of stances or viewpoints. Sometimes, it may be more about making distinctions about you not based on your ideology but rather based on your identity, specifically your place of birth.”
	Self-censorship of expression	“I will not make too many comments on things that I do not understand.”
Internalization and resistance to exclusion	Silence as a coping strategy	“They think that you are brainwashed. When such remarks are made, I basically stay silent and will not reply.”
	Self-restriction of expressed content	“There were such situations before. But due to being attacked several times, or those intentional or unintentional verbal provocations, I rarely post my own emotional content anymore.”
	Emotional defense mechanisms	“To be honest, I’m a very vulnerable person. In such situations, my approach is that if it does not affect me directly, I will not take any action. But I will quietly set my ID to be visible only to those who follow me mutually. I guess this is a way of protecting myself.”
Conflict avoidance techniques	Avoidance of political discourse	“I will not communicate with them about my own political stance either. Even if they bring up this topic with me on their own initiative, I still will not engage in such a conversation.”
	Maintaining surface neutrality	“I just feel that I should remain neutral. Even if others ask me about it, I will also say that I am neutral and will not get involved in this matter.”
	Minimization of platform engagement	“Most of the time, I try to avoid such situations. Sometimes, I just stay silent and lurk around.”
Identity performance strategies	Concealment of identity markers	“They will also hold some discrimination or prejudice against you. That’s why I will try my best to avoid revealing my identity or expressing my identity.”
	Adoption of alternative linguistic symbols	“If it’s on Instagram or LIHKG, I generally post in English.”
	Intentional avoidance of identity markers	“I will not specifically say on the media that I’m a Hong Konger of China or anything like that. I’m just trying to avoid such sensitive topics because I’m afraid they will not like to hear it.”
Rationalized coping strategies	Conditional expression of opinions	“If the other party talks in a reasonable way, that is, they communicate with me in a relatively normal, kind and friendly manner, then I am able to objectively express my own views.”
	evidence-oriented argumentation approach	“It’s mainly about communication and reasoning. That is, one might present some news, research findings or evidence to express one’s own opinions, instead of just venting one’s emotions.”
	Standardization of discursive techniques	“When arguing for a certain matter, I will be very serious and adopt the approach similar to that on Zhihu. For example, I will introduce evidence, add some links to the original texts, and also present data to support the viewpoints I put forward.”
Tendency toward homogeneous interaction	Preferential interaction with homogeneous groups	“There are also some people on LIHKG who, like me, are new arrivals in Hong Kong from the Chinese Mainland. They also post messages, and I will also post messages to communicate with each other. Maybe I will describe my own experiences in Hong Kong, including aspects such as study, entertainment, and social life. They will also show their approval for these, and I will do the same.”
	Connection with individuals of shared experiences	“Relatively speaking, maybe if you only communicate with those local people, some of them will be rather hostile towards you, making it difficult for you to integrate. However, if you communicate with people who have similar experiences to yours, this problem will not arise.”
	Creation of safe social spaces	“After communicating with them on that platform, I successfully met them offline and made friends. I think it’s great to communicate and associate with people who are like-minded in this way. “
Cross-group collaboration strategies	Functional mutual support relationships	“I will look for some group members on it. We have different courses. For some courses, forming teams is required. Some local people will post invitations for teaming up on it. Previously, a pair of local people invited me to join their team.”
	reciprocal communication	“Our strategy is to exchange. I’ll give them my formula, and they’ll give me theirs.”
	Co-creation effect of cultural outcomes	“When you create a wonderful cultural product together, that’s probably the moment when their sense of identification towards you and the so-called sense of belonging are at their strongest.”
Exchange of cultural capital	Practice of the principle of cultural conformity	“Since I have chosen to come to this place, I think I still need to respect the local culture.”
	Expression of reciprocal respect	“It’s about respecting each other’s cultures.”
	Strategic adjustment of communication style	“Just try to speak in a kind and normal tone, and then the other party will be more likely to accept what you say.”
Platform structural bias	LIHKG as an exclusionary field	“On LIHKG, it is mainly used by local people in Hong Kong. I rarely, rarely see people posting articles in simplified Chinese characters or in written language.”
	Evolution of platform discursive climate	“A few years ago, when I browsed LIHKG, I felt that there were more negative news about the Chinese Mainland. But now, I think there are more and more positive news about it.”
	Polarization of platform user ideologies	“Because the people on this platform are originally more radical. I think they are more nativist.”
Digital anonymity effect	Disinhibition behavior patterns	“Then on the LIHKG platform, if you act as a keyboard warrior, that is, once you connect the network cable and then when you unplug it, no one can see you. Then you will surely say whatever you want. I think this is quite obvious in Hong Kong.”
	Inconsistency between online and offline behaviors	“Many Hong Kong people, as you know, may not say much in daily life, but on the Internet, when they are online, they speak irresponsibly.”
	Symbolized exclusion due to simplified characters	“In fact, I think that on that platform, many people do not even care about your viewpoints sometimes. As long as they see that you are someone who writes in simplified Chinese characters, they will start to launch attacks right away.”
Influence of socio-political context	Polarization during social movements	“For example, during the so-called “anti-extradition bill” incident in 2019, they were divided into the “blue camp” and the “yellow camp.” They might often discuss such sensitive topics on LIHKG. Many people from the “yellow camp” would attack those from the “blue camp.””
	Group antagonism during the pandemic period	“During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was also particularly obvious. And later on, things gradually became more peaceful.”
	Identity Safety threats during politically sensitive periods	“I think during the riots in 2019, they would conduct “doxxing” on some relatively well-known Mainland students.”