Link to November 1, 2010 New York Times article, "Nation’s Political Pulse, Taken Using Net Chatter".
Excerpt: He [John Hancock, political consultant advising the Roy Blunt Senate campaign] said this technique, known as sentiment analysis, would soon be a part of every campaign he works on, because it helps him determine quickly which messages are resonating with potential voters. “You get a real sense of who’s carrying the day,” he said. “It affects the advice you’re able to give.”
Online organizing techniques have been rapidly adopted by the political world, and they played an important role in President Obama’s victory in 2008. Now, campaigns and the news media are becoming convinced that the Internet can also be mined systematically for useful data about public opinion. The New York Times has a tool that monitors Twitter for posts about candidates.
The articles notes a couple of drawbacks:
Those who post their views online aren't a representative sample of the public.
Sentiment analysis has a 'tin ear' for detecting notes of sarcasm.
The New York Times covered this topic on 8/23/2009, Mining the Web for Feelings, Not Facts.
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