Abstract

This study explores key issues surrounding social isolation and withdrawal among university students by analyzing 19,876 YouTube comments containing the term “Assa”. Comments were collected from 64 videos over the past decade. To explore differences in comment trends according to video content, the data were categorized into three types—Total, Short Plays, and Conversation—for comparative analysis. The results revealed that the most salient keywords in each category, based on frequency and network text analysis, were as follows: in the Total category, “friend”, “Inssa”, and “empathy”; in the Short plays category, “acting”, “empathy”, and “restroom”; and in the Conversation category, “friend”, “college life”, and “story”. Topic modeling identified three dominant themes for each category. Total—(1) representative keywords from the total, (2) keywords from the Short plays, and (3) actual student comments; Short Plays—(1) feedback on the actors and their acting, (2) peer relationship issues, and (3) eating alone in a restroom stall; Conversation—(1) viewer impressions and encouragement feedbacks, (2) adjustment to college life and feeling a sense of belonging, and (3) frequently used words by conversation types. Emotion-related terms such as “struggle,” “tears,” “love,” “fun,” and “happiness” were consistently present across all categories. These findings contribute to a multidimensional understanding of university students’ social isolation and withdrawal, offering practical insights for future policy-making and the development of preventive educational programs.