tweetfeel/biz gives the Inside Scoop on Balloon Boy Sentiment

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Balloon Boy quickly faded into history once the story was discovered to be a hoax. But, the tall tale of a boy set adrift in a balloon provided much fodder for the twitter world. Let’s go on a Balloon Boy journey ourselves, but this time through the eyes of tweetfeel/biz.

We begin our journey on October 15, 2009. The news broke and Twitter was immediately alight with Balloon Boy tweets. Based on the two week period from October 15 to October 29, the blue line shows that 31% of tweets occurred on Day 1, dropped to half that amount by Day 2, and almost disappeared ten days after that. Day 1 tweets hovered at the 50/50 positive negative line (green line) as some people immediately felt it was a hoax while other people expressed concern for the safety of the phantom boy. But, the tide shifted just a few days later as it became widely known that Balloon Boy was a hoax. At this point, the sentiment, among those few people still tweeting, became overwhelmingly positive.

But what were people really thinking? Why did emotions become so positive for a situation that caused dire panic among emergency rescue personnel? A bit of digging into some tweetfeel/biz themes helps to build this story. It turns out that people weren’t expressing their positive sentiments in the sense of being happy about the situation, but rather they were expressing happiness by way of humor. In fact, about 65% of tweets focused on the humour of the situation! People were particularly interested in the fact that the media picked up on the tale even though it was a hoax.

• LOL I love how Balloon Boy is a trending topic.
• Haha, #balloonboy was in the house the whole time. American news just got pranked.
• LMAO balloon boy. Nicely done.

Not everyone thought it was so funny though. Another 21% of people were angry about the situation for several reasons. They were upset that they had been deceived themselves, that people’s time had been wasted worrying and attempting to save a child, and that the parents had simply behaved in a disrespectful manner towards everyone including their own children. Another 13% of tweets expressed sadness, particularly in the early days, about the situation assuming it was real, and then the sadness subsequently turned to disappointment.

• BOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I hate you Balloon Boy. Way to let me down. You trickster.
• i hate #balloonboy as much as I hated #eliangonzales
• Eff you balloon boy!
• Awww the 911 call made me cry balloonboy
• The Colorado Balloon Boy family is pathetic !
• It landed, and nobody was inside. This is very sad. #balloonboy

If you’re still curious about the incident, Wikipedia has an article that will answer all your questions. If you’re curious about tweetfeel/biz, give it a free testdrive yourself over at tweetfeel.com/biz.

Conversition Launches Enhanced Twitter Sentiment Product as tweetfeel/biz

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Conversition Strategies announces the launch of www.tweetfeel.com/biz, a subscription based service site that lets companies track the sentiment and content of Twitter chatter with accuracy and specificity.

Toronto, November 4, 2009: CONVERSITION releases www.tweetfeel.com/biz, a subscription service website that allows users to monitor the feelings Twitter users express towards products, companies, and other popular topics such as celebrities and movies. This new offering builds on the success of the free consumer version, and includes an increased focus on accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Tweetfeel.com/biz incorporates traditional research methodologies to ensure that the entire process of measuring and reporting sentiment is as valid and reliable as possible. After users specify the relevant search terms and keywords, www.tweetfeel.com/biz immediately begins to gather tweets in real-time. www.tweetfeel.com/biz then uses a multitude of complex algorithms to evaluate tweets in terms of both positive and negative sentiment.

Unique features available in www.tweetfeel.com/biz include the ability to create very specific and accurate search terms by specifying terms that must be searched and terms that must not be searched. Users can also build customized stories to monitor exactly how people are talking about each search term. These stories, or themes, allow users to identify the most popular and least popular topics, thereby permitting actionable insights to occur. Charts and graphs allow users to easily monitor changes in brand sentiment over time.

Tessie Ting explains, “Sentiment analysis is a difficult process in itself, but by developing a very comprehensive set of algorithms, and relying on our knowledge of valid research practices, www.tweetfeel.com/biz demonstrates a level of validity that makes brand tracking of Twitter data highly reliable and very simple.”

“This industry is no longer just about sentiment,” says Jean Davis. “It’s about understanding why people have positive or negative feelings towards something. Understanding the story behind the emotions turns raw data into useful data.”

For a personalized demonstration of www.tweetfeel.com/biz, please contact Jean Davis.

www.tweetfeel.com/biz offers subscriptions for individual or small business users as well as enterprise pricing.

About Conversition Strategies:

Conversition Strategies is a marketing research firm that listens to consumers by applying scientific research principles to the collection and analysis of online social data. Our strength lies in combining the expertise of respected market researchers with that of social media mavens. Our services are complementary to traditional market research methodologies and help you gain a more holistic view of how people engage in conversation regarding your product, service or brand.

For more information please feel free to contact:

Jeremy Chaput | jeremy@conversition.com | 647.998.3854

Jean Davis |  jean@conversition.com | 631.838.6460

http://www.conversition.com | http://www.tweeteel.com/biz | RESEARCH EVOLVED