People share their emotions on social media and evidence suggests that in times of crisis people are especially motivated to post emotional content. The current Coronavirus pandemic is such a crisis. The online sharing of emotional content during the Coronavirus crisis may contribute to societal value change. Emotion sharing via social media could lead to emotional contagion which in turn could facilitate an emotional climate in a society. In turn, the emotional climate of a society can influence society’s value structure. The emotions that spread in the current Coronavirus crisis are predominantly negative, which could result in a negative emotional climate. Based on the dynamic relations of values to each other and the way that emotions relate to values, a negative emotional climate can contribute to societal value change towards values related to security preservation and threat avoidance. As a consequence, a negative emotional climate and the shift in values could lead to a change in political attitudes that has implications for rights, freedom, privacy and moral progress. Considering the impact of social media in terms of emotional contagion and a longer-lasting value change is an important perspective in thinking about the ethical long-term impact of social media technology.

中文翻译：

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电晕和价值变化。社交媒体和情绪传染的作用。

人们在社交媒体上分享他们的情绪，有证据表明，在危机时期，人们特别有动力发布情绪化的内容。当前的冠状病毒大流行就是这样一场危机。冠状病毒危机期间在线分享情感内容可能有助于社会价值的改变。通过社交媒体分享情感可能会导致情绪传染，进而促进社会的情绪氛围。反过来，一个社会的情绪氛围会影响社会的价值结构。在当前的冠状病毒危机中传播的情绪主要是消极的，这可能会导致消极的情绪氛围。基于价值观之间的动态关系以及情感与价值观的关联方式，消极的情绪氛围会导致社会价值向与安全保护和威胁规避相关的价值转变。因此，负面的情绪氛围和价值观的转变可能会导致政治态度的改变，从而对权利、自由、隐私和道德进步产生影响。考虑社交媒体在情感传染和更持久的价值变化方面的影响，是思考社交媒体技术的伦理长期影响的一个重要视角。