A sentiment analysis of the MEP 2019 electoral campaign

Abstract

Social media has become one of the prime communication strategies of political campaigns. User Generated Content (UGC) and candidate posts reflect both electoral campaign strategy and message as well as opinions, following and preference by the electorate. An in-depth analysis of the UGC provides precious information about the political issues which concern the electorate. In this study, an attempt to show the correlation of sentiment of UGC with the electoral results will be made. Using various Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including in depth content analysis, Facebook Page Performance Index (PPI), volume of content, social media users’ engagement rates and other correlations portraying the electoral campaign performance of Members of the European Parliament (MEP) candidates for the 2019 election will be attempted. The findings of this study indicates that organic social media followers are correlated to the number of votes garnered in the actual election. Sentiment polarity is indicative of the overall mood of the electorate vis a vis certain national and European policies and proposals, and how minority lobby groups might topple this sentiment due to the proportionality of the Maltese electorate.