A Social Media sentiment analysis report for 2024 General Elections in Ghana

As the 2024 General Elections draw near, IMANI introduces PULSE, a fortnightly report that provides curated insights into the social media sentiment surrounding the upcoming election in Ghana.

The IMANI Public Understanding and Literacy for Sentiment and Election analysis (PULSE) aims to gauge the prevailing sentiment on social media platforms regarding the major political contenders, as well as influential trends and influencers shaping the online discourse.

The analysis covers platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the web, TikTok, podcasts, and newsfeeds.

While the primary focus of PULSE is on the two main contenders, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), subsequent episodes will also explore the sentiments and influence of other parties such as the People’s National Convention (PNC), Convention People’s Party (CPP), All People’s Congress (ACP), Progressive People’s Party (PPP), as well as independent candidates like the Butterfly Movement and emerging forces in the political landscape.

Data for the analysis is gathered using specific keywords, which are adjusted as news themes evolve. For the period of December and January, significant keywords were identified for both the NPP and the NDC, while keywords for other contenders were determined based on the absence of known flagbearers.

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The sentiment analysis captures three categories: positive, negative, and neutral. These sentiments are collated and analyzed to understand the language, tone, and overall sentiment of social media comments, tweets, and posts related to the candidates.

Here are the key findings from the latest report, covering the period from December 27th to January 14th, 2024:

Positive Sentiment:

Previously, the NPP had a positive sentiment of 9.74% per 100 social media posts, while the NDC stood at 20%. However, during the current period under review, the NPP experienced an increase in positive sentiment to approximately 12%, whereas the NDC witnessed a significant decline to 14.7%, indicating a decrease of about 5.3% in positive sentiment for the NDC.

Negative Sentiment:

The NPP continues to receive more negative sentiments and mentions on social media, although the proportion of negative mentions has reduced from over 90% to around 66% during the period under review. This suggests that the NPP is generating more positive sentiment compared to the previous month.

However, a deeper analysis reveals that interactions related to the NDC have also significantly increased proportionally, indicating a higher number of positive and negative sentiments expressed about the party on social media.

This is evident in the increased proportion of mentions, with the NDC experiencing a 5% rise in social media likes overall. The NDC’s total mentions also surged by over 20%, increasing their share from 14% to 38% of all mentions.

It is worth noting that the NPP’s primary elections in early December led to a substantial spike in mentions, suggesting that the current trend may reflect a more realistic view of the social media discussion landscape. However, further observations in the coming months will be needed to determine the overall trend.

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Another notable development is the estimated social media reach, which saw the NDC’s reach increase from around 3 million to over 18 million during the period under review. Similarly, the NPP’s reach grew from 14 million to approximately 25 million.

This indicates that both parties are engaging in more discussions and reaching a broader audience, but the NDC has experienced a sixfold increase in audience engagement related to their news and content compared to the previous period.

Furthermore, non-social media reach, which includes impressions from sources like news websites, blogs, and articles, indicates that the NPP has roughly twice the reach of the NDC. The NPP achieved over 7.4 million impressions compared to the NDC’s 3.7 million. In the previous period, the NPP had 4 million non-social media impressions, while the NDC had 89,000.

Associated Keywords:

For positive mentions of NPP candidate Dr. Bawumia, the keywords “possible” and the hashtag #itispossible are frequently associated with posts. The second most popular hashtag is #DMB2024. As for candidate Mahama, key hashtags include #ChangeIsComing and #24HourEconomy. Future analyses will delve into these keywords to determine the sentiments expressed and their implications for major announcements and policies.

SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh