Politico-Facebook sentiment analysis will generate "bogus" results

Techpresident :: Thursday morning last week, Politico announced that it was joining with Facebook to "measure GOP candidate buzz" and give its readers an "exclusive look at the conversation taking place on the social networking site" ahead of the January 21 South Carolina primary. It's called "sentiment analysis". "Mitt, Paul winning Facebook primary" was the headline on their first story on the project. "'Social media has forever changed the way candidates campaign for the presidency," said John F. Harris, editor-in-chief of Politico, in a press release about the new partnership.

But researchers question the value of the sentiment analysis.

[Micah L. Sifry:] Marc A. Smith, director of the Social Media Research Foundation, told me, "I share your skepticism re: 'sentiment' analysis. Irony is a tough nut to crack."

Continue to read Micah L. Sifry, techpresident.com