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Beyond positive or negative: Qualitative sentiment analysis of social media reactions to unexpected stressful events

Rui Gaspar,Cláudia Pedro,P. Panagiotopoulos,Beate Seibt

Published 2016 in Computers in Human Behavior

ABSTRACT

Sentiment analysis techniques are increasingly used to grasp reactions from social media users to unexpected and potentially stressful social events. This paper argues that, alongside assessments of the affective valence of social media content as negative or positive, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the context in which reactions are expressed and the specific functions that users' emotional states may reflect. To demonstrate this, we present a qualitative analysis of affective expressions on Twitter collected in Germany during the 2011 EHEC food contamination incident based on a coding scheme developed from Skinner et?al.'s (2003) coping classification framework. Affective expressions of coping were found to be diverse not only in terms of valence but also in the adaptive functions they served: beyond the positive or negative tone, some people perceived the outbreak as a threat while others as a challenge to cope with. We discuss how this qualitative sentiment analysis can allow a better understanding of the way the overall situation is perceived - threat or challenge - and the resources that individuals experience having to cope with emerging demands. Qualitative sentiment analysis indicates the functions underlying users' emotions.We analysed affective Twitter expressions during the 2011 EHEC outbreak in Germany.Expressions show how people cope with stressful events, beyond positive or negative.The analysis helps diagnose if the situation is perceived as a threat or challenge.The analysis can be useful for effective crisis communication during social crises.

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