I&B ministry looks to sentiment analysis to guage people’s mood

To gauge the mood of people on social media, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has begun relying on “sentiment analysis” of people’s responses on such websites to judge their perceptions on various issues.

Sources said that the government believes that merely keeping track of the amount of traffic on social media may not be enough as the real detail may lie in the quality of posts.

So, it is not just the number of online responses, but whether they are “positive, negative or neutral” that the New Media Wing of the I&B ministry tries to analyse as part of its “sentiment analysis”.

The I&B ministry is mandated to communicate the government’s policies to the public and collect feedback.

The sources said that the content of blogs, message boards, microblogs, etc. are analysed to understand the larger picture as to what is really on the mind of those online.

Apart from flagship programmes, the initiatives and visits of the Prime Minister abroad and important current issues are among the subjects on which the New Media Wing prepares its reports.