Sentiment analysis study with an emphasis on the integration of different statement polarities and the evaluation of the resulting sentiments

Abstract

Social media has become an integral part of today's society and has continued to grow tremendously throughout the world. People communicate through social media constantly and social media has become a pivotal place for people to gather information related to things that they are interested in. It is also a place for people to express their views to friends, family and followers with just one click of a button immediately. Naturally in society there are a wide range of views encompassing an unlimited amount of subjects. Some of these views can be deemed negative, positive, neutral or maybe even other. My research will attempt to identify the sentimental impact that different views in the form of social interactions online, can have on the people who are watching, listening and reading them. Furthermore, I will research how the integration of neutral and positive statements can stimulate positive and productive conversation amongst a community on a small scale as well as a large scale. Analysis of this will be quantified by changes in the overall reaction of the various communities time following intervention. The main contribution of this thesis is to show a correlation between statements with positive or neutral sentiment and a trend towards positive or neutral responses after moderation. Events of large discussion or interest will be evaluated to ensure a significant amount of data is available for analysis. In order to integrate the social aspect into the equation, software will be explored and evaluated or built and then utilized to connect participants and extract the appropriate metrics.