While analyzing comments on Youtube videos I found that commenters, primarily those who use pseudonyms, were more negative than those who use ‘real’ names. Many of the comments were irrelevant to the research because they simply supported the content creators. The rest of the comments were negative because they questioned why someone eats insects, along with other exclamations of disgust or vomit / sick emojis.
Above is a sample of the comments received under videos of someone eating insects in China. The comment, “That’s corona country baby.” suggests that Chinese insect eating contributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Comments on videos about Asia, in particular, have a pattern of mentioning sickness or COVID-19, reflecting Western stereotypes about “dirty” foods. Comparing eating insects to sickness or disease is meant for other people in Asian countries. Notably, people in 2020 commented on pre-Covid-19 videos that eating insects, and these ‘taboo’ eating behaviors were the reason for the pandemic. Comparing insects to filth or disease is common in Western culture, because of the belief that Western foodways are most pure and clean.